Tag: News

• RFK Jr.'s candidacy is propelled in large part by people who just don't like their other options.
• 44% of his supporters are mostly just voting against Trump and Biden, polling shows.
• 50% are supporting him because they're actually into him.

In case it wasn't clear enough: many of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s supporters are mostly just dissatisfied with their other choices.

The independent presidential candidate, according to a new poll, is benefiting significantly from the support of voters who do not like President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump.

According to new polling conducted by The New York Times, Siena College, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, 44% of RFK Jr.'s supporters said they're mostly voting against the other candidates in the race.

Meanwhile, just 50% say they're mostly voting for Kennedy, who's best known for promoting conspiracy theories about vaccines and whose family has largely endorsed Biden.

He's not necessarily alone in that position.

So-called "negative partisanship" — voting for one party largely out of disgust or fear of the other — has long been a key driver of support for both Trump and Biden, both of whom are relatively unpopular with voters.

According to the poll, antipathy toward Biden and Trump is an especially strong motivator among Kennedy's more educated supporters, including 53% of his supporters who have a college degree.

Polling has also shown that Kennedy — a former Democrat — is not just a threat to Biden, but to Trump as well. Perhaps his biggest fan on Capitol Hill is Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin — though Johnson has said he will vote for Trump.

• Big TV used to have a monopoly on our attention — and our wallets.
• But its audiences aren't gone yet. And a new metric has them doing better than standalone streamers.
• This mirrors the pitch big TV companies are making this week in New York to advertisers.

The Big TV guys are screwed, right?

Because they used to have a monopoly on our attention and our wallets, but those days are long gone. Their audiences are evaporating, and the people left behind are… not young. Without the NFL, the entire thing collapses.

Yep! That's a pretty good summary of things, and one I've written many times.

But also, on the other hand: They're not dead yet.

And here to make that argument is Nielsen, which has a new way of tracking attention among media companies — including digital upstarts. And in this version, the TV guys are still sticking around. Many of them, in fact, are doing better than Netflix.

For now.

The idea is simple: Look at all of the TV time a big media company commands — via its streaming channels, but also its traditional broadcast and cable TV stations — and produce a single metric that measures viewership share.

That means, for instance, that Disney doesn't just get credit for ABC and ESPN and its other channels, but Disney+ and Hulu and ESPN+. Paramount gets credit for its streaming channels and its cable networks and CBS. Like so:

So, in this way of viewing things, Netflix is not the all-powerful viewing platform that's — once again — hoovering up shows and movies from desperate big media companies. It's merely the 6th biggest media company, behind Disney, NBC Universal, and even Paramount.

This also happens, not coincidentally, to mirror the pitch big TV companies are making this week in New York during glitzy presentations for advertisers: We have lots of ways to get your messages to audiences, no matter what screen or service they're using!

So that's nice for the TV guys. But it shouldn't make them too comfortable. For starters, as you will have noticed, the No. 2 player in this revised chart isn't a traditional media company but Google's YouTube — which somehow still doesn't receive enough attention from media chatterers. Even though it's clearly a viewing and advertising juggernaut.

Just as important: While it's fair for Nielsen (and the TV guys) to argue that combining traditional TV plus streaming gives them lots of reach, advertisers — the people they're trying to convince with that argument — don't seem to care that much. The overall pool of TV ad dollars continues to shrink, year after year, because that money is chasing eyeballs that aren't watching TV, period. And that won't change no matter how you present the data.

• The US economy and stock market are on a clear path to recession, according to Paul Dietrich.
• The B. Riley Wealth Management CIO pointed to a handful of warning signs that suggest a downturn is on the horizon.
• The final blow to the economy could be the US pulling back on stimulus spending, he warned.

There's a large number of warnings flashing for the US that suggest the economy is on a near-certain path to recession, according to B. Riley Wealth's chief investment strategist Paul Dietrich.

Dietrich, a Wall Street vet who was among the observers who called the 2008 recession, has been warning for months of another downturn coming for the US. In a recent note, he pointed to a cluster of warning signs in the economy, such as hotter-than-expected inflation throughout the first quarter and greater volatility in the market. Stocks and bonds have seen muted gains this spring, while oil and gold, which typically perform well in inflationary environments, are rising, Dietrich noted.

Economic growth is also starting to slow, with GDP rising 1.6% over the first quarter, down from 3.4% in the final quarter of 2024. Consumer confidence is also "plummeting," Dietrich said, while job growth has slowed, with the unemployment rate recently touching its highest level in two years.

Meanwhile, yields on US Treasurys are nearly four times the yield of S&P 500 dividends — a sign investors are anticipating interest rates to stay higher for longer. That's the highest Treasury yields have been since 2001, and only the second time in the last 100 years when yields have been that high.

"The economy and the stock market have never seen anything like this in history. Everything reminds me of the Dot-com bubble in 2001-2002," Dietrich said.

He speculated that the next recession has been postponed by the trillions of stimulus spent during the pandemic, though the economy is still on track for a downturn. Once that support stops, that could be the "final blow" to stocks, which look propped up by "investor overconfidence" and "a complete disconnect from any company fundamentals," he added.

"Since the current deficit spending is unsustainable, it will end at some point. When it does, the effect will be brutal for jobs, the economy, and the global stock markets," Dietrich warned.   

Dietrich is among the most bearish forecasters this year, even as calls for a recession have eased and observers say a coming downturn is likely to be short-lived. Previously, Dietrich warned that stocks could crash as much as 44% as the US economy weakens, even if the recession turns out to mild. 

• Former US officials said the US is falling behind in its electronic warfare capabilities.
• Russia has developed sophisticated electronic warfare weapons. 
• It's using it to neutralize US weapons given to Ukraine. 

The US has been outclassed by its rivals, such as Russia, in its capacity to remotely take out enemy weapons using jamming technology, according to former US military officials.

Mike Nagata, a retired US Army lieutenant general who led special operations in the Middle East, said that the US is "still falling behind" in its electronic warfare capabilities, reported Defense One.

Electronic warfare units, which use electronic signals to remotely scramble the GPS coordinates used to guide weapons, have played a key role in Russia's war in Ukraine.

"The gap between where the United States should be and where we are, in my judgment, continues to expand not everywhere, but in far too many places," Nagata reportedly said at the SOF Week conference in Tampa, Florida. He called on the US to get more creative to regain its dominance in electronic warfare.

Two retired special operations personnel singled out Russia in remarks to the publication. They said that one reason the Kremlin's technology is significantly better, is because it ignored international laws designed to stop jamming of civilian telecommunications.

It had also invested in electromagnetic innovation for decades while the US had focused its jamming technology on gathering intelligence in areas such as the Middle, according to the publication.

Russia has repeatedly used its electronic warfare units to disable expensive precision-guided weapons that the US has given its ally Ukraine in its battle against Russia.

According to reports, they've proven effective in sending GPS-guided Excalibur artillery rounds off course. They have also been effective against the JDAM US-made missiles used by Ukraine's air force, as well as the rockets fired by US-made Himars missile systems.

Last year, Ukraine's outgoing senior commander, Valery Zaluzhnyi, in an interview with The Economist, said Russia's electronic warfare capability had given it an important edge.

The US is closely studying the conflict for information on how to improve its electronic warfare systems. In May, Defense News that the Pentagon is spending millions on developing new electronic warfare systems and technology to evade GPS jamming.

Mark Cancian, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, recently told BI that the Department of Defense had been looking at options such as using narrower signal bands or the generation of stronger signals that are able to burn through jamming attempts.

The threats, nevertheless, "remind us to be careful about expecting 'game changers,'" he said. "The other side always develops countermeasures that reduce effectiveness."

In recent months, there have been concerns that Russia's electronic warfare units are scrambling GPS systems used by civilian planes in northern and eastern Europe, with a plane carrying the UK's defense secretary, Grant Shapps, impacted by one suspected attack in March.

• Civil rights groups filed a lawsuit against an Iowa sheriff's department over jail fees.
• The lawsuit alleges misuse of funds on things like laser tag and ice cream machines.
• The class-action suit was filed on behalf of a single mom charged $730 in fees.

Civil rights groups initiated a class-action lawsuit on Monday, accusing an Iowa sheriff's department and its sheriff of unlawfully collecting jail fees and using some of the proceeds to fund laser tag, ice cream, and a cotton candy machine.

According to the lawsuit, Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson implemented a policy that mandated payment to the jail for "room and board" at a rate of $70 per day, plus $25 in admin fees — collectively referred to as "jail fees."

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Nothern District of Iowa, says that the fees were enforced by presenting individuals serving a sentence at the jail with a confession of judgment to sign prior to being released. Any funds on their person were seized and applied to the debt.

The suit, initiated by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and Public Justice, contends that there were no opportunities for a hearing or to mount a defense against the imposition of fees.

Rita Bettis Austen, ACLU of Iowa legal director, said in a statement that prisoners being made to sign confessions of judgment are powerless.

"They have no bargaining power, no attorney, and zero meaningful understanding of what they are doing and what they are giving up," she said.

In a statement provided to Business Insider by email, Sheriff Thompson claimed that inmates are not required to sign confessions of judgment or to enter into payment plans.

Laser tag, ice cream, and cotton candy machines

According to the lawsuit, the policy is a money maker for Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office. It said that the department collected $590,217.36 in jail fees between July 2021 to July 2023.

Some counties don't collect jail fees at all because they see the practice as unfair, the ACLU and Public Justice said in a joint statement.

The lawsuit says that while 60% of the fees collected are allocated for specific expenditures, 40% are unallocated, a portion of which went to frivolous spending.

Some of the funds went to the Raymond Range, a gun range used by employees and their families, which was outfitted with laser tag equipment, ice cream machines, and cotton candy machines, according to the lawsuit.

In the statement provided to BI, Sheriff Thompson said it would seem "disingenuous" to have these expenditures — which he said contribute to the training and emotional betterment of officers — paid for by the taxpayer.

"When they pay for their stay in jail, they are helping fund training for the law enforcement profession, families, and our communities by providing programming that destigmatizes the profession of law enforcement just a bit," he added.

Filed on behalf of a single mom

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Leticia Roberts, a single mother of three, who served sentences in 2022 for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated,

According to the suit, Roberts was invoiced $730 in jail fees, with two confessions of judgment being used to impose the fees without a court order.

In one of them, it was noted that Roberts said she could not afford the fee because she "needs to feed her 3 kids."

Nonetheless, she received a collection letter two weeks later warning her that non-payment could lead to "further enforcement steps" or an increased fee, the lawsuit says.

In the joint statement by the ACLU and Public Justice, Roberts said she wanted to take a stand against the practice.

"Shaking down people for money as they get released from jail is wrong," she said.

Charles Moore, a staff attorney for Public Justice's Debtors' Prison Project, said in a statement that "most of the people paying are trying to get their lives together and under extreme financial stress, so wrongfully extracting money from them at that difficult point is particularly heartless."

The class-action suit aims for unspecified compensatory damages, the declaration of confessions of judgment as unlawful, and injunctive relief against the practice.

• OpenAI is releasing a ChatGPT app for Apple's Mac before Windows.
• OpenAI said it plans to launch a Windows version "later this year."
• Microsoft is a key investor in OpenAI and has invested billions into the company.

A ChatGPT app is coming to Apple's Mac laptops before Windows despite Microsoft's hefty investment in the company.

In a blog post, OpenAI said a new ChatGPT desktop app for macOS will be available for both free and paid users. The rollout for Plus users kicked off on Monday.

OpenAI said the app was "designed to integrate seamlessly into anything you're doing on your computer" and could be activated with a keyboard shortcut.

However, Windows users will seemingly have to wait for their own version of the new app. OpenAI said in the blog post that they planned to launch a Windows version "later this year."

Axios reporter Ina Fried said on social media OpenAI told her the company had "started with the Mac because they prioritized where their users are."

Microsoft has invested heavily in OpenAI since the launch of ChatGPT. The Big Tech company is the company's largest investor, reportedly to the tune of $10 billion.

Microsoft has benefited from the partnership as an AI arms race engulfed Big Tech companies. The company was able to capitalize on the buzzy tech behind ChatGPT, integrating it quickly into products such as Bing and Office365.

The savvy investment has even led to claims Microsoft managed to put old rival Google on the back foot, despite Google's history as a pinoeer in the AI sector.

The scale of the investment has also ruffled some feathers, most notably those of OpenAI cofounder Elon Musk.

Earlier this year, the billionaire sued OpenAI over the partnership, accusing the company of betraying OpenAI's mission of benefiting humanity amid a multibillion-dollar partnership with Microsoft.

Representatives for Microsoft and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.

• This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.
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Hello! Miss Teen USA is turning into the pageant no one seems to want to win. After the initial winner resigned her position, this year's first runner-up declined to take over as queen. Here's a timeline of all the drama. 

In today's big story, everyone's talking — literally — about the big update for OpenAI's ChatGPT that could make your job a lot easier. 

What's on deck:

• Markets: The leader of the meme-stock revolution reemerged. 
• Tech: Apple needs a W in the form of a big, new product. 
• Business: Walmart's CEO has some career advice, and a big piece of it is living in the moment. 

But first, let's chat.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

The big story

Putting the chat in ChatGPT

First came HAL. Then came Her. Now there is GPT-4o. 

Hollywood has a history of humanlike AI talking to people. But their real-world counterparts never seemed to live up to the hype, sounding too robotic or taking too long to respond. 

OpenAI may have finally cracked the code on voice interactions with AI, though. The company unveiled an upgrade for ChatGPT that includes an impressively humanlike voice feature made possible by its new flagship model, GPT-4o.

During a live presentation, OpenAI's latest product helped with breathing exercises, walked a user through a math equation, and served as a translator. OpenAI says GPT-4o's average response to audio inputs is 320 milliseconds, which is on par with a typical human-to-human conversation.  

The internet was impressed, to say the least. Sharing your screen with ChatGPT while talking through problems could be a game changer for coding and data-focused work, writes Business Insider's Alex Bitter. 

One developer I texted after the event raved about the potential and was excited to test it out.

Typing out class or API-specific names into questions for ChatGPT while coding was tedious, they said. The demo made it seem as if they could talk to ChatGPT like a coworker.

"They've essentially made text input almost be the barbaric form of communicating with ChatGPT (or any AI) now," the developer said.

OpenAI's big reveal shows the shockwaves the startup keeps sending through the tech world. 

This time around, it's likely Apple that is feeling the heat, writes BI's Katie Notopoulos.  

Before Monday's event, a report detailed how ChatGPT prompted Apple executives to realize the digital assistant Siri needed a major upgrade. Those updates, which are expected to come during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June, will now undoubtedly be judged against GPT-4o. 

But it's not just Apple that's been put on its back foot. 

For months there has been heavy speculation that OpenAI is developing a web search product to compete with Google Search. OpenAI is even reportedly trying to snag Googlers from its search team. 

In the meantime, Google I/O, the company's biggest developer event, kicks off today, and AI will surely be at the forefront. 

Even those deeply invested in OpenAI's success are getting competitive with the red-hot startup. 

Microsoft, which has poured $10 billion into OpenAI, is reportedly building its own AI model in an effort to show the tech giant doesn't plan to just ride OpenAI's coattails during the AI wars. 

3 things in markets

1. The dollar can't be dethroned. That's according to Morgan Stanley strategists, who outlined three reasons the greenback will maintain its status as the world's dominant currency on a podcast last week. "Bottom line, King dollar doesn't really have any challengers," Michael Zezas, the bank's head of US public policy research, said.
2. Roaring Kitty's back, and meme stocks are loving it. Keith Gill, a key figure in the GameStop short squeeze of 2021, posted on X for the first time in nearly three years. Naturally, r/wallstreetbets took it in stride, and by that, I mean shares of GameStop surged as much as 118%. 
3. A top economist predicts the US's debt-fueled growth will catch up to it in 2025. Apollo's Torsten Slok said the economy will be alright for a few more quarters, but next year will be a different story. Consumers and businesses are carrying too much debt, and a hard landing is coming, he said. 

3 things in tech

1. Apple desperately needs its Next Big Thing. Under Tim Cook's tenure, there have been no earth-shattering product launches — which is exactly what Apple needs right now. With iPhone sales slowing and revenue falling, it's time for the company to reclaim its innovative edge.
2. Mayhem at Tesla continues. The company rescinded job offers for incoming full-time employees. The move is part of broader cuts at Tesla, which have spanned the past several weeks and aim to eliminate over 10% of its workforce. 
3. Happy birthday, Zuck. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg turns 40 today. Over the past 10 years, the world's fourth-richest man's wealth has surged — and he's used his ballooning personal fortune to build up a $200 million real estate portfolio and buy himself a megayacht.

3 things in business

1. Melinda French Gates steps down. In a statement on X, French Gates announced she'd resigned as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She'll have "an additional $12.5 billion to commit to my work on behalf of women and families," she said, thanks to an arrangement with her ex-husband, Bill Gates. 
2. Tips for success, according to Walmart's CEO. Speaking at the University of Arkansas' commencement ceremony, CEO Doug McMillon shared three pieces of advice: Be present, choose a career that doesn't feel like work, and assume positive intent from others.
3. It's not all plain sailing for child-free adults. DINKs (dual-income couples with no children) are known for having disposable income and spending their paychecks on major investments, luxury vacations, and early retirement. But a growing number of child-free adults are living paycheck to paycheck because it's harder for them to access tax credits and government assistance.

What's happening today

• Today's earnings: Alibaba, Home Depot, Sony, and other companies are reporting.
• Disney is hosting its upfront presentation, unveiling its 2024-25 program lineups.
• Google's Input/Output annual developer conference is today.
• Google's new Pixel 8a smartphone is available to buy.
• Cannes Film Festival kicks off today.

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

In northwestern Syria, families make a living scouring through dangerous dumps for treasures they can sell. The job could make them sick — or even kill them — but in a country that's suffering a major economic crisis, it's often the only choice they have.

• Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince is reportedly open to having "tough conversations" about Vision 2030.
• MBS might be ready to discuss which projects should proceed first, the Financial Times reported.
• Saudi has been deflecting suggestions that some of its megaprojects are facing financial issues.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may finally be ready to have some "tough conversations" about his ambitious Vision 2030 project.

The de-facto Saudi leader is open to discussing which projects should progress and which could wait, the Financial Times reported, citing a person familiar with the thinking at the Public Investment Fund — the sovereign wealth fund.

Amine Mati, head of the IMF's mission for Saudi Arabia, told the FT that Saudi authorities were "recalibrating" to assess whether some spending should be delayed.

Representatives for Neom did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The comments come after the kingdom has tried to deflect reports that some of its Vision 2030 projects are facing financial strain.

Last month, Bloomberg reported that the financial realities of the country's Neom project, which could cost as much as $1.5 trillion, have started to cause alarm within the Saudi government.

Meanwhile, Saudi has started borrowing to help fund some Vision 2030 megaprojects including Neom, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The kingdom's also been battling reports that plans for Neom, the ambitious desert city, have been scaled back.

In an apparent attempt to refute some of these claims, the Saudi economy minister, Faisal Al Ibrahim, recently said all Neom projects were continuing at the planned scale.

"These projects will be delivered to their scale and in a manner that in terms of priorities suits the needs of the projects, the returns of these projects, and the economic impact," he told the World Economic Forum's special meeting in Riyadh last month.

Vision 2030 aims to transform Saudi Arabia economically and politically by reducing its dependence on oil revenues and pivoting toward tech.

Neom has emerged as the plan's flashy centerpiece. Saudi officials tout the project as "the world's most ambitious."

The resort island of Sindalah, the first region of Neom, is due to open later this year.

• A 10-foot-wide, one-bedroom home was built in Washington, DC, on what used to be a driveway.
• Zoning law changes forced tight measurements for the 0.02-acre property, requiring many iterations.
• The home is listed for $581,903 and is attracting investors who may use it as a rental property.

A developer in Washington, DC, had a small canvas — about the width of a driveway — to build a modern home that's on the market for $581,903.

Now, there's a 10-foot-wide, one-bedroom home on what used to be a driveway.

According to the listing agent, Jennifer Young of Keller Williams Chantilly Ventures, the zoning laws changed shortly after the developer purchased the 0.02-acre property, so they had to scrap the idea of building a home or tighten their floor plan.

"It literally came down to sometimes a centimeter of getting the exact measurements right to both comply with DC zoning and build a really nice home that was functional," Young told Business Insider.

Nady Samnang, the contractor tasked with figuring out how to build a home on a driveway in between two alleys, told the Washington Post that the design went through many forms and took nearly seven months to get approved by the city permit office.

"I wanted to quit so many times," he told the Washington Post.

While the price has fluctuated since being listed for $799,900 in July 2023, according to Zillow, it's garnered interest from many across the country.

"It's one of the most-viewed homes on Zillow that I've ever seen in my career," Young said. "We do have quite a bit of looky-loos, but we have a lot of first-time buyers looking and investors — people that want to Airbnb it or rent it to college kids."

Nady Samnang and his brother Dean purchased the 700-square-foot lot at the beginning of 2021 with plans to build a four-story home.

According to Zillow, they purchased the lot for $200,000.

Originally, they were going to build a four-story house, double the width, but DC zoning restrictions changed shortly after he bought the land.

"They changed zoning right after he bought it so they were kind of screwed and they either were going to scrap a deal or try to build a tiny home," Young said.

Construction was difficult with such a narrow space, and the materials had to be brought in by hand.

"All the materials had to be brought in by hand versus pulling a truck up to the site because it is a very condensed area," Young said. "There's a road, but big work trucks can't come through and it's a very tight space to work in."

Even with a width of six feet at it’s most-narrow point, there are still a number of amenities that you would find in any modern home.

It even has a fenced patio big enough for an intimate seating area.

Bringing materials in was not the only challenge. Samnang also had to get creative when finding space for basics inside.

Samnang told the Washington Post that the powder room under the stairs was an "extreme challenge" due to DC code requiring toilets and sinks to be at least 15 inches apart. He had to opt for a skinny sink to fit.

Lucky for the future buyer, the skinny home comes fully furnished.

No need to haul in a bed upstairs or search for a couch that fits — those items come with the home.

"They just went pretty modern and they chose all the right finishes that are popular now," Young said. "They had to do something that made it as luxury and contemporary and high-end as they could within these restrictions."

It first hit the market at $799,900, according to Zillow, making it $1,333 per square foot.

It's 45 feet long and 10 feet across at its widest point.

The price has since been dropped to as low as $581,903 in April.

"It's definitely hard to price," Young said. "There's not one single comparable because everything around it is condos — and it's not comparable to condos.

The Zillow listing has nearly 50,000 views and over 900 saves — numbers that Young say are rare for the area.

"It's probably the most-viewed DC listing in years right now," Young said.

Investors have taken an interest in using the house as a rental unit for students or as an Airbnb.

There are no condo or HOA fees, according to Young, which could be enticing to someone renting it out.

People are drawn to the spectacle, Young said, but there are plenty of interested buyers as well.

"It's a very popular building," she said. "I think half the people are looky-loos, and half are very interested."