Tag: IFTTT

• Bernie Sanders has become a towering figure in American politics. It wasn't always that way.
• He got his start in government as a small-town mayor, decades before his 2016 and 2020 campaigns.
• Here's everything to know about the Democratic socialist senator.

Bernie Sanders is known today as perhaps the most important leader on the American left. It wasn't always that way.

Long before his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns helped steer the Democratic Party leftward, the Vermont senator was a lonely voice in American politics — the rare politician willing to call himself a "socialist" in a country defined heavily by its opposition to the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Sanders was born on September 8, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York to a working class Jewish family. His father was an immigrant from Poland. He attended James Madison High School, where he was a track star, and graduated in 1959, eight years before his present-day colleague Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

He later attended the University of Chicago, where he was famously arrested for protesting against segregation in Chicago public schools. He graduated in 1964, spent some time on an Israeli kibbutz, and moved to Vermont in 1968.

From mayor of Burlington to the longest-serving independent in congressional history

Sanders's initial foray into politics took place far outside the Democratic party: In the 1970s, he ran for both governor and US Senate multiple times under the banner of the socialist "Liberty Union" party.

His first political victory came in 1981, when he was elected mayor of Burlington — the largest city in Vermont — by a mere 10 votes. He would go on to serve four terms, easily winning reelection each time.

After coming second in a three-way race for Vermont's sole House seat in 1988, he was elected to Congress in 1990 with significant Democratic support. Despite that, he maintained his status as an independent, and would later earn the title of the longest-serving independent in congressional history.

Sanders has been an avowed socialist the entire time, and was forthright in defending that position even when the Soviet Union still existed.

"I am a socialist and everyone knows that," Sanders said in 1990. "They also understand that my kind of democratic socialism has nothing to do with authoritarian communism."

Sanders was elected to the Senate in 2006 and was reelected by overwhelming margins in 2012 and 2018.

The 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns

In April 2015, Sanders took perhaps the most impactful step of his career — announcing that he would run for president, challenging former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic nomination under the slogan "A Future To Believe In."

Running on a platform that included Medicare for All, addressing income inequality, and enacting campaign finance reform, Sanders helped awaken a movement on the American left that persists to this day, inspiring the rise of figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Though he lost his bitterly fought primary against Clinton that year, he demonstrated that there was a robust appetite for more left-wing economic proposals than the Democratic Party had long offered. In the years between his 2016 run and 2020 campaign, several other potential Democratic presidential contenders embraced Sanders's proposals, especially Medicare for All.

In 2020, Sanders ran again, ultimately coming in second to now-President Joe Biden in the primary. He dropped out on April 8, 2020, roughly a month after the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Who Sanders is today — and what he's fighting for

Since his 2020 campaign, Sanders has assumed a more institutional role in the United States Senate.

During the first two years of Biden's presidency, he served as the chairman of the Budget Committee, a perch that afforded him a key role in shaping Biden's domestic agenda, including the ill-fated "Build Back Better" social spending bill that laid the groundwork for the Inflation Reduction Act.

Since 2023 — a period of divided government — Sanders has been the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, a perch he's used to take on corporations while pushing proposals such as a 32-hour workweek and a $17 federal minimum wage.

He's also been especially outspoken against Israel since the October 7 Hamas attacks, calling for conditions on US aid to the country and voting against bills that don't include those conditions.

Sanders is worth at least $2 million and owns three homes, according to numerous reports. Much of that wealth has come from book sales, a frequent source of outside income for lawmakers with high profiles.

In 2022, for example, Sanders nearly doubled his income via book royalties for his latest book, "It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism."

"I wrote a best-selling book," he told the New York Times in 2019. "If you write a best-selling book, you can be a millionaire, too."

The 82-year-old Vermont senator, the second-oldest US senator behind the 90-year-old Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, has not yet said whether he will seek reelection in 2024.

If he chooses to run, he will essentially be a lock for reelection. If he chooses to retire, several candidates may seek to replace him, including Democratic Rep. Becca Balint.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/zETOBWK
via IFTTT

• The Supreme Court rejected Elon Musk's bid to get rid of his 'Twitter sitter.'
• He has to get legal approval for any X posts about Tesla as part of an SEC agreement.
• Musk argued it limits his free speech, but the court shot him down.

The Supreme Court isn't going to step in to help Elon Musk get rid of his "Twitter sitter."

The court on Monday rejected an appeal by the billionaire Tesla CEO over a previous settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission which requires Musk to get legal approval for any posts he makes on X about Tesla.

Musk settled with the SEC in 2018 after he tweeted he had the "funding secured" to take Tesla private in a deal that never came to pass.

He filed a petition with the Supreme Court to undo the settlement in December, arguing it limited his free speech.

Business Insider has reached out to X and Tesla for comment.

The Tesla boss — who also runs SpaceX and X itself — has been no stranger to feuds with government officials.

He's raged against the SEC, called Joe Biden a "damp sock puppet in human form," and picked a fight this year with one of Brazil's top judges.

Meanwhile, the SEC reportedly is opening up a new line of investigation against Musk, Bloomberg reported. This time, the agency is probing Tesla's claims about its self-driving tech.

That tech has also come under fire from federal regulators, who said last week they had linked Tesla's Autopilot feature to hundreds of crashes.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/6nRYAVd
via IFTTT

• AI is being used in the understaffed mental-health-care field to help providers.
• AI-powered software can suggest treatments through mobile apps and analyze therapy sessions.
• This article is part of "Build IT," a series about digital tech trends disrupting industries.

The fusion of human ingenuity and machine intelligence is offering an innovative approach to personalized mental-health care. By leveraging AI technology, clinicians and behavioral-health-care facilities can provide tailored treatments for people with conditions such as depression and addiction. They can also use AI to assess the quality of their services and find ways to improve as providers of mental-health care.

These advancements also bring up important ethical and privacy considerations. As technology becomes more involved in mental-health care, ensuring data security, confidentiality, and equitable access to services must be top priorities.

How an AI-powered mobile app provides treatment

Dr. Christopher Romig, the director of innovation at the mental-health clinic Stella, said he saw great potential with AI "aiding in early diagnosis, personalized treatment plans, and monitoring patient progress."

There's a reason for this anticipated gain in momentum, he added: "Because there's such a huge shortage in this country of mental-health-care providers, AI is going to be a key component moving forward in terms of support and interventions."

Click Therapeutics, a biotechnology company that develops AI-powered software for medical treatments and interventions, helps patients through a mobile app. The software can work independently or in conjunction with pharmacotherapies to treat conditions such as depression, migraines, and obesity.

The company's algorithm collects and analyzes patient data, including symptom severity and sleep-wake cycles, from the app. It uses this information to identify patterns and correlations to provide tailored treatment strategies.

It also leverages digital biomarkers such as smartphone sensors. For example, the sensors can monitor a patient's heart rate to detect high stress; the algorithm can then recommend mindfulness exercises, relaxation techniques, or cognitive-behavioral-therapy modules within the app. "It's bona fide therapeutics that are changing the brain," Shaheen Lakhan, the chief medical officer of Click Therapeutics, told Business Insider.

Patients can share these insights with their healthcare providers to give a more comprehensive understanding of their conditions and behaviors. The metrics can inform treatment decisions and improve care results. "You're the active ingredient, meaning you have to engage in it," Daniel Rimm, the head of product, said.

In January, Click Therapeutics announced the Food and Drug Administration would help accelerate the development of the company's software for treating schizophrenia. Research suggests that this use case could significantly benefit from digital therapeutics.

Dr. Haig Goenjian, the principal investigator and medical director at CenExel CNS, told BI that patients who used prescription digital therapeutics in a schizophrenia-focused study said the approach "changed the way they socialize" and "that they are better able to navigate their schizophrenia symptoms to function in the real world."

"At the end of our studies, many patients asked how they can continue to use this digital therapeutic," he added.

How an AI platform is helping mental-health-care providers improve their services

The AI platform Lyssn is another tech-driven tool for mental-health services. It provides on-demand training modules for clients such as behavioral-health-care providers who want to improve engagement and sessions with their patients.

Providers can record therapy sessions with the consent of their patients and use Lyssn's AI tech to evaluate factors such as speech patterns and tone from both parties to better understand how to effectively converse and improve their approach to sessions.

"There's a need for more, and there's a need for better," Lyssn's cofounder and chief psychotherapy-science officer, Zac Imel, said, referring to the countrywide shortage of mental-health workers.

Imel and Lyssn's chief technology officer, Michael Tanana, said it's hard to evaluate the quality of service being provided because sessions between mental-health-care professionals and patients are private and, therefore, difficult to monitor. Lyssn aims to hold providers accountable for improved care, especially because "the quality of mental-health care is highly variable," Imel said.

Tanana, who also cofounded Lyssn, added that "we need ways to ensure quality" as more people seek access to mental-health services. The developers at Lyssn keep this in mind as they train their AI tech to recognize both problematic and successful conversation styles, Imel said.

For example, Lyssn can analyze a provider's responses during conversations that require cultural sensitivity; this includes gauging how curious they are about the client's experience and whether they're anxious when talking about such topics. Based on its evaluation, the platform can give providers immediate feedback on their skills and suggest certain training and tools to help them learn and improve.

Darin Carver, a licensed therapist and assistant clinical director at Weber Human Services, uses Lyssn to improve patient outcomes. "Clinicians have near-immediate access to session-specific information about how to improve their clinical work," he told BI.

He added that supervisors also have access to skills-based feedback generated from session reports, which they use to transform fuzzy recollections from clinicians into hard facts about which skills they used and need improvement.

Carver said feedback and advanced analytics are essential treatment decisions. "We can drill down to what our real training needs are and which clinicians and areas need help," he said. "It's been a game changer."

Concerns with AI in mental health

There's still a need for human-led regulation when using AI in mental-health services. AI algorithms can perpetuate biases and stereotypes from the data they're trained on.

To account for issues, Lyssn creates a detailed annual report that evaluates the performance of its training and quality-assurance models for helping people from historically marginalized communities. The company also partners with leading universities to assess the tech's multicultural competency.

Stringent compliance regulations are also needed to protect patient privacy and confidentiality. Lyssn, for instance, uses encrypted data transfers and storage, two-factor authentication, and regular external compliance audits to help thwart data leaks. Now that tech-driven care is evolving, Carver said, mental-health professionals have a duty to ethically use AI to improve people's health and well-being.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/HjhaLri
via IFTTT

• The US economy already looks like it's in a recession, according to Danielle DiMartino Booth.
• The chief strategist of QI Research pointed to weakness in the job market, with layoffs rising.
• She said that puts the economy in a precarious state, especially with US debt-taking already looking similar to China's.

The US economy is already in a downturn — and it could be following in the footsteps of China as the government assumes a growing amount of debt to prop up growth, according to veteran forecaster Danielle DiMartino Booth.

The chief strategist of QI Research has warned for months that the US economy is already in a recession, despite Wall Street's upbeat outlook for a soft-landing. But a downturn is already evident in the weakening job market, Booth said, pointing recent downward revisions in monthly job growth figures.

The job market remains on solid footing by historical standards. The economy added a more-than-expected 303,000 jobs in March, while the unemployment rate remained near a record-low. 

But new payrolls were revised slightly lower for the month of February, falling to just 270,000. Meanwhile, layoffs and unemployment have inched higher in recent months, with total discharges rising to 1.7 million in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"These revisions, they keep pushing us back further and further from where we thought we were," Booth said in a recent interview with Fox Business. "It seems like every time companies report their earnings, they're doing it with a kicker that says hey, we're going to lay off 2,000 people or 1,500 people or whatever it is."

Layoffs could end up rising from 150,000 to 370,000 by the end of the year, Booth predicted in a previous interview. 

Other economists also foresee a weaker labor market, which raises the risk of a recession. The economy could enter a hard-landing by the end of the year, causing the unemployment rate could surge to 5%, top economist David Rosenberg recently predicted.

The economy is already in a rocky position, especially when considering ballooning US debt levels, Booth added. Government debt-taking makes the US economy look precariously similar to China's, she said, where state-owned enterprises once accounted for as much as 60% of the nation's GDP, according to a 2019 estimate from FactSet.

"It is not different in any way shape or form," Booth said on the similarities between America's and China's economies. "Right now the public sector is sucking the life out of the private sector … We have to spend less as a country to let the private sector really come out and drive the economy."

The federal debt balance is at all-high of $34.5 trillion, according to Treasury Department data. Ballooning debt levels could eventually spark an array of problems for the economy, experts have warned, including higher inflation, greater market volatility, and a lower quality of life for Americans.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/SXioZNx
via IFTTT

• Walmart CEO Doug McMillon received total compensation of $26.9 million in the last fiscal year.
• The median compensation for associates was $27,642, according to Walmart's annual proxy statement.
• Since 2009, McMillon has received a combined $136 million for his work as a Walmart executive.

The CEO of the world's largest company just had another very good year.

Walmart's Doug McMillon received total compensation last year of more than $26.9 million, up $1.6 million from the year before, according to the company's annual proxy statement filed Thursday with the SEC.

The pay package consisted of $1.5 million in base salary, $19.6 million in stock awards, and $5.8 million in other compensation.

It's a sizable increase from his first wage job unloading trucks for the retailer earning $6.50 an hour in 1984, which would be about $19.79 in today's dollars.

The 57-year-old Arkansas native is now in charge of 2.1 million workers across more than 10,000 retail stores around the globe, and annual sales of $648 billion — that's more people and higher sales than any other private employer in the world.

Of those 2 million-plus workers, the median employee was paid $27,642 last year, up 1.8 percent from last year. McMillon's compensation is 976 times that amount.

By comparison, Target CEO Brian Cornell's most recently disclosed compensation package was $17.6 million, while Craig Jelinek made $16.8 million in his final year as Costco CEO. Their pay ratios were 680 and 336, respectively.

Under a new calculation that companies are required to disclose as of last year, McMillon saw his net worth grow by nearly $47.5 million last year after adjustments to recognize the fair value of his stock awards.

Since 2009, Walmart has paid McMillon a combined total of nearly $163 million for his work as an executive. Prior to becoming CEO, McMillon was in charge of the corporation's international division from 2009 to 2014, and head of Sam's Club from 2005 to 2009.

McMillon now owns more than 5.1 million shares of Walmart stock, worth $306 million at Friday's closing price.

Do you work at Walmart? 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.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/UNjGaPH
via IFTTT

• Mohamed El-Erian named three key risks that will determine where US growth is headed in 2024 through 2025.
• That includes changes to the Fed's inflation target and low-income consumer spending.
• Investors will also watch for a balance between technological innovation and geopolitical tension.

If Wall Street was wrong about recession odds in 2023 and 2024, forecasting for next year won't be any easier, Cambridge economist Mohamed El-Erian wrote in Project Syndicate. 

In his view, chances of a US soft-landing scenario still remain strong for the near-term, but there are three key risks that will determine how likely this really is.

First, all eyes are on the Federal Reserve as to whether it will double down in its 2% inflation chase, or if it can live with a slightly higher rate.

According to El-Erian, the central bank's fixation on this figure could trap it between a rock and a hard place, in the case that US growth starts slowing before the target is reached.

In fact, the first quarter is already showing signs of this, with the latest GDP reading declining markedly against hotter-than-expected inflation. That has led to "stagflationary" alarm on Wall Street, a situation the Fed could only combat by hiking interest rates higher.

Since last year, El-Erian has warned 2024's inflation would get stuck between the 3%-4% mark, and called on the Fed to readjust its target a percentage higher; otherwise, the central bank risks crushing the economy to achieve its goal, he's said before.

Second, America's growth trajectory will also depend on consumer spending, but especially among lower-income households. Though US consumption has generally stayed strong, lower-income brackets have taken the brunt of a declining environment. The cohort is increasingly strained by higher debt and eroded savings.

"Given high interest rates and some creditors' loss of enthusiasm, this cohort's willingness to consume will hinge on whether the labor market remains tight," El-Erian wrote.

Third, US growth is at the mercy of where the broader narrative goes — which could either mean an innovative boost or a international rupture:

"While technological advances promise a new favorable supply shock that could unlock higher growth and drive down inflation, geopolitical developments could do the opposite, as well as limit the scope for macroeconomic policy," he said. 

For instance, while technology such as generative AI and sustainable energy could mean transformative growth for at least a few years, international strife could spark stagflationary instability — such as in the case that crude surges over $100 a barrel, El-Erian wrote.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/RDkeXWY
via IFTTT

• Kari Lake is the all-but-certain GOP nominee in Arizona, a key battleground state this cycle.
• But she's spent much of this cycle traveling out of state — including to Mar-a-Lago.
• According to one report, even Trump is miffed by Lake's travel schedule.

Democrats have long pointed out Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake's frequent out-of-state travel. Now, Donald Trump has apparently taken notice as well.

According to the Washington Post, the former president is annoyed by Lake's frequent jaunts to Mar-a-Lago, Trump's resort and political home base in Palm Beach, Florida.

At one point, according to the report, Trump even "gently suggested to Lake that she should leave the club and hit the campaign trail" in Arizona, where she's set to face Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego in a high-stakes Senate race this fall.

While not the most important Senate race this cycle — Republicans have generally focused more on unseating incumbent Democratic senators in Ohio and Montana — Lake's race still matters. If she's able to make the race more competitive, it increases Republicans' chances of retaking the chamber, which could make or break Trump's ability to govern if he wins a second term.

Spokespeople for Trump and Lake did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment. A Trump spokesman did not directly address the Post's reporting, but told the outlet that Lake is a "Smart and Fearless Leader who will WIN in Arizona." A senior advisor to Lake told the Post that the Senate candidate is "running a strong campaign."

Yet Lake has traveled out of state numerous times for speaking engagements and campaign events in the midst of her current campaign. On a semi-regular basis, the Arizona Democratic Party has sent out newsletters entitled "Where In The World Is Kari Lake?" highlighting the candidate's latest travel.

During one recent appearance before a Republican crowd in Idaho, Lake even appeared to backtrack on her stated opposition to Arizona's newly instated abortion law, saying that "unfortunately" it was not being enforced.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/UWQH7Fh
via IFTTT

• George Santos will be making Cameo videos as his drag persona, Kitara Ravache, he said.
• Santos previously denied having been a drag queen despite evidence of him dressed in drag.
• After being expelled from Congress, Santos has used Cameo to earn money.

Disgraced former Congressman George Santos announced on Monday that he is bringing his drag persona Kitara Ravache "out of the closet" for a limited time.

Santos, who was expelled from the House in December after a brief scandal-ridden stint representing New York's third district, said in an X post that he would be offering personalized Cameo videos as his drag persona.

According to Kitara Ravache's Cameo page, 20% of the money earned from the videos, which cost $350 each, would go to charitable causes.

In a message to "you messy bitches," Santos said 10% of the money would support Tunnel to Towers, which helps the families of 9/11 victims, while another 10% would go to the pro-Israel philanthropic organization, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

"It's going to be super limited to a couple of days," he said in a video on the page.

While Santos was still in Congress, images of him dressed in drag emerged. He eventually confirmed the authenticity of the photos but denied having performed as a drag queen.

Santos told reporters at the time: "I was young and I had fun at a festival."

However, claims from Eula Rochard, a drag performer from Brazil, appeared to contradict this.

Rochard said that she had known Santos as a drag queen and that he'd competed in drag in a beauty pageant as Kitara Ravache in 2008.

Additionally, a series of videos suggested that Santos had dressed as his drag persona over a period of at least three years, casting doubt on his claim that it was a one-off occurrence.

In January 2023, "RuPaul's Drag Race" star Jan Sport said that Kitara Ravache's drag was pretty good but suggested that Santos might be hypocritical for aligning himself with far-right lawmakers, elements of which have demonized drag shows.

Several states, such as Montana, Texas, and Florida, have attempted to enact legislation prohibiting drag shows in certain public venues, with varying levels of success.

These efforts are part of a broader campaign within the Republican Party against drag culture.

Last week, Santos suspended his campaign to return to Congress.

His political career has been marred by controversy, starting with reports emerging while he was a Congressman-elect, accusing Santos of fabricating aspects of his life story and details of his résumé.

He's also been facing legal troubles, having pleaded not guilty to 23 fraud-related charges. He is accused of identity theft, stealing donors' credit card details, and lying to the FEC, and is awaiting trial.

Following his expulsion from Congress, Santos turned to Cameo as a source of income.

According to Semafor, Santos made more on the platform in 48 hours than during his entire time in Congress, where he was on a salary of $174,000.

Santos did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/OjLUAzE
via IFTTT

• Ukraine continues to target Russian energy facilities despite reported White House objections.
• The attacks are an attempt to weaken Russia's economy, straining its primary foreign currency source.
• Strategists argue that consistent pressure on Russia's energy sector could have a long-term impact.

Four days after the US voted to sign off a long-awaited $61 billion in aid, Ukraine did the one thing that the White House has reportedly been asking it not to do: It struck another oil facility on Russian soil.

Ukraine says that Wednesday's drone attack took out about 900,000 cubic feet of Russian fuel. This was followed on Friday by 10 drones slamming into an oil refinery in Krasnodar, shutting the plant down, The Telegraph reported.

These are just the latest in a ferocious string of attacks on Russian energy facilities, launched by Ukraine since the start of the year.

Ukraine's rationale for hitting Russia's energy infrastructure came in response to the muted impact of Western sanctions, as well as delays in Western aid as it struggled to hold the front line.

Ukraine needed to be "more creative, or think in more 3D terms about the battle space," Ann Marie Dailey, a geopolitical strategist at the RAND Corporation, told BI.

"You need to find other ways to weaken your opponent and stretch their resources," she added.

While the US dithered over aid, Ukraine had a robust argument for prosecuting the war pretty much as it pleased.

But now that the aid bill has passed, "there's a bit more political leverage on the side of the US," Rafael Loss, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told BI.

Reports suggest that President Joe Biden's administration has tried to dissuade Ukraine from attacks on energy infrastructure. (Ukraine has denied this, while the White House has not commented directly.)

Reported concerns from the US include the impact on global oil prices, and the risk of a Russian escalation in the war, The Washington Post reported.

The debate over the attacks has also exposed fault lines in the relationship between Ukraine and its most powerful ally.

"It is a risky move to continue that," said Marina Miron, a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of War Studies at King's College London.

Defying a powerful ally

Ukraine risks alienating its most powerful ally by going against the US just days after Congress approved a hefty military aid package.

But, as multiple analysts have said, the aid package alone isn't going to win the war. Ukraine needs ways of weakening Russia, and that includes striking its energy infrastructure, Dailey said.

She likened the situation to a boxing match in which one fighter is only allowed to hit the other's arms.

And Russia has been landing body blows. On Saturday, Russia unleashed a massive attack on Ukraine's energy facilities, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Russia has previously said that attacks like these are a direct response to Ukraine's own attacks, according to the Post, a stance that, on the surface at least, seems to validate US fears.

Even so, Ukraine has a point to prove about its own agency in the war, Olga Tokariuk, an academy fellow at London's Chatham House, told BI.

Russia has repeatedly tried to paint the conflict as a proxy battle between itself and the US, diminishing Ukraine's role, she said.

By ignoring the White House on key issues of military strategy, Zelenskyy can demonstrate that Ukrainians "have their own agency, they have functioning democratic institutions, even amid war, and they're able to make their own decisions," Tokariuk added.

And, as some analysts have noted, the political situation in the US — with former President Donald Trump vying to regain the presidency — could mean that this is the last aid package Ukraine gets from the US.

This "somehow frees them to actually keep on conducting those strikes," Miron said.

Whittling away at Russia's war economy

Ukraine's attacks are taking place hundreds of miles behind enemy lines, far from the home territory it is trying to defend.

Part of the US' unease, Pentagon official Celeste Wallander told a House panel earlier this month, rests on the fact that energy infrastructure is a civilian target and not a military one, as the Post reported.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin previously said that the US would prefer that Ukraine target Russian airfields, the outlet reported.

But there is also the question of how effective the attacks are in military terms. As Carnegie scholar Sergey Vakulenko wrote recently, even if Ukraine took out every oil and gas facility within reach, Russia would likely still have enough for its own uses.

"Taking out a particular refinery is not going to immediately undermine Russia's war effort," said Dailey, the RAND strategist. "But consistently putting pressure on Russia's oil sector would have a significant impact on Russia's ability to fight this war."

She said that, in the long term, lower oil output would cut into Russia's access to export earnings — vital foreign currency it uses to buy materials it needs for advanced weaponry.

Vakulenko, in his article, also noted that that strikes on Russian oil refineries have "little impact on Russian export earnings."

But, he said, if Ukraine keeps up the same pace of attacks it set in March, it "will be able to keep damaging Russian refineries faster than they can be fixed, slowly but steadily eroding the country's refining capacity."

There are already some signs of strain.

In February, Russia announced a six-month gasoline export ban. Later, Ukraine said that its attacks had reduced Russian oil production and processing by 12%. The attacks have some other indirect military benefits, experts told BI.

They likely create headaches for Russia's air defenses, given the size of the country and the amount of air space it has to worry about, Loss said.

There's also the political impact, Tokariuk added.

One of the reasons Russians support the war is the sense that it is a distant conflict — but incoming attacks on home soil give "a sense that the war is near," she said.

No sign of a pause

There's every sign that attacks like this will increase even after the influx of military aid, Britain's defense chief Admiral Sir Tony Radakin told the Financial Times last week.

Some experts BI talked to agree.

"I would expect at least some strikes deep behind Russian lines" to continue after the aid package arrives, said Loss.

He added that with sanctions on Russia still failing to really bite, "the urgency of the situation" means that Ukraine is right to try to hurt Russia's economy in other ways.

Loss also pointed out that despite the Biden administration's reported concerns, there's no sense that the US has actually withheld intelligence or otherwise tried to stop the attacks from happening.

James Patton Rogers, executive director of Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute, told BI that "the reports of US concerns about these strikes are often exaggerated."

The Biden administration's statements are a reflection of a standard NATO position on the matter, and "not because they expect Ukraine to stop," he said.

Patton Rogers also pointed to their impact on Ukrainian morale.

"They are publicly popular at a time when morale is low and Ukraine outgunned," he said. "When faced with delayed funds, shortfalls in munitions, and the relentless Russian bombing of urban centers, what else does the US expect Ukraine to do?"

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/0kbvAV9
via IFTTT

• This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here.

Welcome back! Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? A millennial manager details what they learned from their young employees.

We've also got a limited-time deal for a Business Insider subscription worth checking out.

Today's big story examines how recruitment for AI talent is ramping up in the tech industry and on Wall Street.

What's on deck:

• Markets: The AI bubble is popping, just not as soon as you think.

• Tech: Bill Gates has played a key role in Microsoft's AI strategy behind the scenes.

• Business: More Gen Zers are struggling to stay connected to school or work.

But first, we've got an opening.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

The big story

AI job feeding frenzy

AI might ultimately take all our jobs. But right now, it's minting plenty of high-paying roles.

Eager to understand how to leverage the tech, companies are racing to scoop up AI specialists.

The fight for talent has tech companies pulling out all the stops. That includes calls from high-profile CEOs and seven-figure pay packages, writes Kali Hays and Ellen Thomas.

But Big Tech companies aren't just competing with each other. Wall Street is throwing big money at AI specialists. Banks, hedge funds, and private equity are all getting in on the fun.

And then there are startups. But it's not just about joining a young company. With so many venture capitalists eager to fund AI ideas, some AI talent are starting their own companies.

The AI hiring frenzy comes during a massive spending spree in the space.

Microsoft's chief financial officer, Amy Hood, said on the tech giant's earnings call that capital expenditure would increase "materially."

Mark Zuckerberg told Meta investors it's investing more in AI than it initially realized. And it might be a while before it pays off. (Zuckerberg does have a plan to eventually make money from the AI investments.)

But not everyone is convinced, as investors sent Meta's shares tumbling in the wake of earnings.

The dynamic puts incredible pressure on the AI talent being brought in. With shareholders keen on these AI investments to payoff, companies will be expected to find revenue streams quickly.

But operating at such speed, especially as regulators keep a close eye, won't be easy.

A new FTC rule banning non-competes adds another wrinkle to a market that prides itself on secrets. (Non-competes are banned in California, but remain prevalent in certain corners of Wall Street.)

Businesses are already fighting the rule, but if it survives the courts it could mean even more movement of AI talent.

News brief

Your Monday headline catchup

A quick recap of the top news from over the weekend:

• DeSantis makes nice with Trump in Miami: reports.

• Mark Meadows asked the Supreme Court to recognize his 'just following orders' defense. A right-wing justice wasn't buying it.

• Google hits a new milestone: $2 trillion.

• Russian troops advanced and captured large parts of village after apparent Ukrainian blunder left front line unmanned.

• Mint Butterfield, teen whose dad cofounded Slack and mom cofounded Flickr, found safe, police say.

3 things in markets

1. It's gonna take some carnage to get rate cuts. Black Swan investor Mark Spitznagel said the Federal Reserve will only consider lowering interest rates when a recession is imminent or the stock market is crashing. "Be careful what you wish for," Spitznagel told Reuters.

2. The AI-fueled stock market bubble has a few years left. Research firm Capital Economics said 2026 is when things will come crashing down for AI. It has a glum prediction for the markets, anticipating returns from equities will be weaker over the next decade than the previous one.

3. David Einhorn has a theory about why gold prices have spiked. In his latest letter to investors, published this week, the Greenlight Capital founder said there's been a "secular trend" of countries from the East buying the precious metal from Western nations.

3 things in tech

1. Bill Gates never left. Since 2021, Gates has largely been out of the picture at Microsoft — at least publicly. Current and former executives told BI Gates stayed intimately involved in the company's operations. While CEO Satya Nadella might be the face of Microsoft's AI success, insiders say Gates has been the one quietly pulling the strings.

2. No For You Page, no problem. The ink has dried on the "TikTok ban" bill, and many are concerned about the app's future. Selling TikTok without its infamous algorithm seems like an inevitable doom for a new owner. But what if it's not?

3. Shopify is back. The e-commerce giant's stock surged 200% in the 18 months after October 2022. Analysts credit Shopify's rebound to several well-timed decisions, including selling off a money-losing business and making two big cuts to its head count.

3 things in business

1. A tale of two Gen Zs in America. There are young people who have followed traditional milestones in life and then there are those who are getting left behind. Meet the "disconnected youth" — they want education and a good job, but circumstances outside of their control are getting in the way. And that might cost them.

2. The sudden demise of ComplYant. A tax-compliance startup abruptly closed its doors in September, despite raising over $10 million in venture funding. It took employees two months to receive their final paycheck. Then the CEO cut off all contact

3. Guys literally only want one thing… a $7,000 chair. The Herman Miller Eames lounge chair and ottoman has become a status symbol for a certain type of young, newly rich American man. BI set out to find out why finance and tech guys are treating a chair like it's a Rolex or a Porsche.

In other news

• From Gen Alpha to boomers, we asked 6 therapists what each generation is speaking about in therapy.

• Walmart heir Rob Walton is stepping down from the retailer's board after four decades.

• Sundar Pichai, James Gorman, and Sheryl Sandberg have all worked for McKinsey. Here's why the consultancy is a CEO factory.

• A Catholic 'priest' has been defrocked for being AI.

What's happening today

• Today's earnings: Paramount and other companies are reporting.

The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, editor, in London. George Glover, reporter, in London. Grace Lett, associate editor, in Chicago.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/A6jblce
via IFTTT