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I grew my tech income to over $250,000 in 8 years. 1 move has helped me negotiate a higher salary.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Brian Jenney, 42, who lives in California. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

When I got into tech in my early 30s, I had no clue how crazy lucrative the industry was.

I started as a web application developer in 2015, earning roughly $60,000 a year.

Over the years, I became savvier at negotiating my salary, and by 2023, I was making over $250,000.

I’ve earned more than I could have ever imagined, without working in Big Tech, where people often assume the big money is made.

Here’s what I’ve learned along the way.

1. It was dumb not to negotiate a starting salary because it already sounded impressive

I used to have addiction issues, so I didn’t really work from the ages of 25 to 30 and lost knowledge that people gain from white collar jobs at this stage of life.

I was naive about the salary potential of my industry, and when people in tech said they were on $150,000, it blew my mind, and I began to feel underpaid.

In 2017, after two years in the web developer role, I landed a job at a startup. I was so impressed when I was offered $120,000 that I didn’t negotiate my salary, which was dumb in retrospect.

The environment was extremely fast-paced and high-caliber. I struggled with imposter syndrome as one of the team’s more junior members. I felt like one of the worst developers there and that I was already being paid more than I deserved. It discouraged me from asking for a raise.

In 2019, I joined the media intelligence company Zignal Labs. I was so happy about the job offer that I didn’t negotiate the salary, so my pay initially stayed roughly the same as in my previous job. It felt like I had plateaued, even though I had more money than I needed. An unfortunate symptom of working in tech is that you get drawn to wanting more.

Choosing this role turned out to be the right move, though. I had more room to grow and was in a better learning environment at a larger company.

During the tech hiring spree of 2020, my peers said they were getting crazy offers, and I didn’t want to miss out. That August, I joined The Clorox Company, a manufacturing firm, as a software engineer. By 2023, I was making over $250,000: the peak of my earnings in tech.

In 2024, I was laid off, and I’ve continued to work in various software engineering roles. I bought a business in 2023, and my focus has shifted to seeking out flexibility and time to build it, instead of maximizing corporate compensation.

2. I prepare for the pressure of job interviews by practicing with strangers

Interviews are like a carnival game where you can win big money by performing well, and you can’t get to the negotiation stage without passing them. They’re structured, learnable, and winnable with the right preparation.

When I have job interviews lined up, I do technical practice and use a platform called Pramp, which pairs you with strangers for practice interviews. I’ve found this helps simulate the nerves and pressure of real interviews better than practicing with friends.

I’ll try to do at least two mock interviews before an interview I really care about.


Brian Jenney is standing on a stage giving a talk.

Jenney uses a platform called Pramp to practice job interviews.

Courtesy of Brian Jenney



3. I learned to ‘play the game’ of salary negotiation. Now I ask for at least 10% more.

Over the years, I’ve benefited a lot from people in tech being open about their salaries and career paths, which helped me understand what was possible and gave me confidence to negotiate and aim higher.

I’ve learned that salary negotiation is a game you have to play, and if you don’t, you lose money.

I began consistently negotiating pay in the late 2010s. I usually tell the employer that I’m really excited to start the job, but that I was hoping to come in at a higher salary range, usually 10 to 20% more.

I’ve found this to be very effective, and it has never gone badly for me. If an employer sounds firm on their offer, I usually try to explore whether a sign-on bonus is possible instead, but I don’t push aggressively beyond that.

I have more money than I need, even though I never worked in Big Tech


Brian Jenney is pointing at a wall with computer code written on it.

Jenney said a salary of $150,000 is more than enough for him.

Courtesy of Brian Jenney



I’ve interviewed with but never been hired by the Big Tech companies. Besides, I like working at smaller startups and non-tech companies where I think you can have a greater impact.

Big Tech employees are going to “beat me” on pay because their stock compensation will outpace my earnings. But I see my current lifestyle as comparable to theirs. I believe there’s a reason software engineers aren’t driving around Mountain View in Ferraris: they can’t cash out all their stock money yet.

There’s always more you can earn, but when my salary hit the $150,000 mark, I knew it was more than I needed. I’d rather prioritize jobs where I’m happy, I’m learning, and I can cover my needs while still saving. That’s all I really need.

Do you have a story to share about growing your salary in tech? Contact this reporter at ccheong@businessinsider.com




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Small-business owner has paid $12,000 in tariff fees and says Supreme Court ruling leaves uncertainty

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Marc Bowker, owner of Alter Ego Comics, a comic book shop in Lima, Ohio, after the Supreme Court overturned some of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. This story has been edited for length a clarity.

My first reaction to the Supreme Court decision was, “This is awesome and long overdue.” The second was, “Okay, what’s next?”

Then I saw the president say there would now be a new 10% global tariff and that the Supreme Court justices who ruled against him are unpatriotic and unloyal. So it feels like this is going to drag on forever and ever until he gets his way. It’s like death by a thousand paper cuts.

I think there are more questions remaining than answers. I appreciate the Supreme Court siding with Americans and American businesses, but it feels like it’s going to be a tug-of-war that may go on throughout this entire administration.

This administration has created a level of uncertainty in the small business landscape that I haven’t seen in 23 years of owning my store.

In addition to being a small-business owner in America, I’m a consumer in America, so I’m paying more for everything that my family consumes, from food to physical products. It’s a one-two punch for us.

I’ve already paid thousands, and there’s still uncertainty

I’ve kept a spreadsheet of every shipment that had a tariff charge, and as of today, we’ve paid over $12,000 since Trump started all of this.

We’ve had to pass on a percentage of that to our customers, and as a result, we’ve seen a slowdown in orders. Some are taking a wait-and-see mentality, or they just don’t want to pay the extra fee.

Comics themselves — a lot of which are printed in Canada — have not been impacted by tariffs. But for me and for other comic book stores, action figures, board games, and comic book supplies, like storage items, are being impacted. Action figures account for about 65% of my shop’s revenue, and they are made in China.

A lot of these orders are made far in advance, too. We were being charged tariffs on items ordered in 2023 and 2024. There’s stuff I need to order next week that ships in June of 2027. Is the tariff going to be 6%? Is it going to be zero? Is it going to be 100%? I have no idea.


Marc Bowker and his family in front of his store, Alter Ego Comics.

Marc Bowker and his family in front of his store.

Marc Bowker



It’s unclear if small businesses will get refunds or what will happen next

As for the tariff costs small businesses have already paid, are we getting that back? Probably not. Are the corporations that paid the bulk of the tariffs going to be reimbursed? Where does that come from? I feel like this is just going to cause more paperwork, more red tape, more headaches. I don’t know what the next step is.

If I could wave a magic wand, yes, there would be some reimbursement of the fees that all American businesses have had to pay. If I had to settle for something, it would be that, effective today, there are no more of these Trump tariffs.

It’s hard to be excited about the Supreme Court ruling when, within hours, the White House says it’s going to push back with more tariffs.

The administration is throwing so much at us every day that we can’t make any progress. It’s hard to see what the future will look like.

I would hate to see this stretch on the next three years of the administration. It’s going to take all this extra time that could be spent running our businesses and serving our customers, just trying to stop the government from getting its hands in our pockets.

It really feels like our elected officials are not listening to us. Historically, the Republican Party has been promoted as the party of business in the United States. If they truly were, they would be listening to constituents who are saying these tariffs are hurting our businesses.




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How the US military Is preparing for a potential war with Iran

The US is mounting its largest military buildup in the Middle East since 2003. Here’s a list of the weapons and hardware that it’s sent to the region as the Trump administration pressures Iran to strike a deal that would limit its nuclear and military capabilities.

At least a dozen warships collectively worth an estimated $50 billion have been deployed to the region. Satellite imagery shows the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, and a second carrier strike group led by the USS Gerald R. Ford is on the way. The buildup also includes a variety of military aircraft and missile defense systems.


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Democrats demand Trump issue $1,700 tariff refunds to Americans after Supreme Court ruling

President Donald Trump previously promised Americans tariff dividend checks, but if Democrats have their way, he could be issuing refunds instead.

After a Supreme Court ruling on Friday struck down Trump’s tariffs levied under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Democratic lawmakers were quick to demand that the president repay Americans through tariff refunds.

“Donald Trump should return that money immediately. He has an obligation,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Friday. “$1,751 per family that were taxed by Donald Trump. He took hundreds of billions of dollars from working folks, from the ag community, from small businesses for this vanity play, this illegal action, and he finally was held to account. The rule of law won out.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker sent a letter to Trump calling for refunds to families in his state.

“Your tariff taxes wreaked havoc on farmers, enrage our allies, and sent grocery store prices through the roof,” Pritzker said in the letter. “On behalf of the people of Illinois, I demand a refund of $1,700 for every family in Illinois.”

The governor also sent an invoice billing that amount for more than 5.1 million Illinois families, totaling more than $8.6 billion. The invoice said it was “PAST DUE – DELINQUENT.”

When reached for comment, White House spokesman Kush Desai responded in part by saying if Pritzker “really cared about delivering economic relief for Illinois, he’d start with his own state government instead of chasing another stupid headline.”

The offices of Newsom and Pritzker did not respond to requests for comment.

Both Newsom and Pritzker are considered potential candidates for the presidential election in 2028, and they’ve both been highly critical of Trump.

The governors appeared to be basing their requests for refunds of that amount on a report released this month by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee in Congress. The report found American families paid an average of $1,745 in tariff costs between February 2025 and January 2026, for a total of over $231 billion paid by consumers.

Other studies, including from Harvard Business School and The Budget Lab at Yale, have found that tariff costs are largely paid by American businesses and consumers.

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that tariffs issued under the IEEPA, a national security act, had exceeded the president’s authority. Trump denounced the decision and said he would pursue additional tariffs through other avenues.

In November, Trump touted the money being collected from tariffs and floated the idea of sending $2,000 tariff dividend checks to middle and low-income Americans, though issuing such checks would likely have required an act of Congress. In January, Trump gave mixed messages about his plans for tariff rebate checks.

Now, with the IEEPA tariffs struck down, it’s likely some American businesses will try to receive refunds for the tariff costs they paid.

Despite Democrats’ stance on the issue, there’s a lot of uncertainty about whether or how refunds would happen.

The Supreme Court ruling did not touch on issuing tariff refunds.

When Trump was asked Friday if the government would now have to issue refunds, he said, “I guess it has to get litigated for the next two years.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday it was “unlikely” Americans would receive tariff refunds.

“I got a feeling the American people won’t see it,” Bessent said, adding, “My sense is that could be dragged out for weeks, months, years.”




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An AI replica of deceased Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams sparks backlash from his family

Scott Adams once sounded open to the idea of a digital afterlife. Now that he’s passed, social media posts attributed to his family say an AI version of the “Dilbert” creator circulating online is unauthorized — and deeply distressing.

In a 2021 podcast clip, the cartoonist said he granted “explicit permission” for anyone to make a posthumous AI based on him, arguing that his public thoughts and words are “so pervasive on the internet” that he’d be “a good candidate to turn into AI.” He added that he was OK with an AI version of him saying new things after he died, as long as they seemed compatible with what he might say while alive.

Shortly after the 68-year-old’s January death from complications of metastatic prostate cancer, an AI-generated “Scott Adams” account began posting videos of a digital version of the cartoonist speaking directly to viewers about current events and philosophy, mirroring the cadence and topics the actual human Adams discussed for years.

His family says it’s a violation, not a tribute.

A February 5 post on Adams’ official account attributed to his brother, Dave Adams, insisted the cartoonist “never intended, never would have approved an AI version of him that wasn’t authorized by himself or his estate.”

“The real Scott Adams gave explicit permission on the record multiple times for people to create and operate an AI version of him,” the AI Adams said in a post on February 5. “So this iteration exists as a direct fulfillment of that stated wish.”

The official Adams account reiterated the family’s objection on February 17, saying the estate was “kindly but firmly” asking anyone using AI to recreate his voice or likeness to stop, calling the digital replicas a “fabricated version” of Adams that is “deeply distressing.”

“This is not a tribute. It is not an honor. It is an unauthorized use of identity,” the post read.

The Adams estate did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider. In a Friday interview, the creator of the AI Adams said he’d tried to get in touch with the estate to collaborate on the project, but had been blocked on social media.

“It’s my belief this is something that he wanted,” John Arrow, an AI venture capitalist who created the digital Adams, said. “And I’m not trying to predict what he was thinking. I’m just going by his statements what he what he tweeted over and over and over again. I’ve looked and looked and can find no evidence of any type of revocation. If there was anything that suggested this is what he didn’t want, I would stop.”

The dispute underscores the growing legal and ethical fault lines around “AI afterlives” — and how quickly technology can outpace the rules meant to govern it.

‘It’s a deepfake’

Karen North, a University of Southern California professor specializing in digital social media and psychology, said calling the AI-generated Adams an avatar, as some have online, softens what it is.

“It’s a deepfake,” North told Business Insider.

The troubling part, she said, is how a realistic imitation can surface while a family is grieving and potentially say things the real person never would have said. North added that since many Americans are “giving up so much information” through apps that capture faces and voices and viral quizzes that collect personal details, it is increasingly easy to recreate someone without permission.

“I find it very disturbing,” she said.

Betsy Rosenblatt, an intellectual property lawyer and professor at Case Western Reserve University, said her initial reaction was that the AI Adams would be “unethical in the extreme” unless authorized by Adams himself or his estate after his passing.

“The temporariness of people is part of what makes life special,” she said.

Legally, she said, the central issue is the right of publicity — protections over a person’s name, image, and likeness. Still, those laws are more focused on privacy and economics than on grief.

The right of publicity is “chiefly concerned with economic remedies,” Rosenblatt said.

The strongest claims typically involve money: an AI version could harm existing deals tied to Adams’ identity or block the family from striking their own.

Rosenblatt described two potential economic harms: “One is that it could be harming some financial arrangement that they already have. Another is that it might stand in the way of their making some competitive financial arrangement,” she said.

The legal analysis also hinges on whether the account is commercial. Courts often ask whether the speech proposes a commercial transaction.

If the digital replica isn’t selling anything, Rosenblatt said, it becomes “more likely to be considered a First Amendment protected expression” for the anonymous creator — not a “slam dunk,” but a stronger argument.

The AI Adams identifies itself as artificial intelligence at the start of its clips and does not appear to solicit money. Arrow told Business Insider his plan isn’t to monetize the project or sell products through the AI Adams — in fact, it costs Arrow’s business, Age of AI, about $1,000 to produce each episode — but to ensure the world doesn’t lose “another great intellect.”

“When we have a great mind, and he or she passes away, we lose that person forever,” Arrow said. “AI is giving us a chance to maybe not make them immortal, but at least preserve a lot of their teachings and allow them to adapt and give their insight on new situations.”

Consent isn’t the same as a contract

The estate’s objections sit uneasily alongside Adams’ 2021 comments offering “explicit permission” for AI versions of him. Arrow said the primary reason he chose to recreate Adams, rather than other public or historical figures, was because it seemed clear that he was willing to be immortalized by AI.

North said offhand remarks about technology shouldn’t automatically be treated as binding authorization. Adams was “an incredibly bright, incredibly creative person” who often pushed boundaries, she said, and comments made in conversation “may not be legally binding in ways contracts and intellectual property rights are legally binding.”

“Let this be a warning to all of us: be careful what you say, because he’s now put his loved ones in a difficult position as they protect his legacy,” North said.

Rosenblatt said Adams’ wishes “would certainly matter in an ethical sense,” but may not matter legally “unless he gave somebody the legal rights to do that.”

There is no comprehensive federal law governing posthumous AI likeness, but some states — like New York and California — have recently enacted laws requiring consent from heirs or estate executors before creating digital replicas.

Beyond legal questions lies a deeper ethical one: who controls a person’s persona after they’re gone?

North said people “should own the rights to our own personas,” and when they die, those rights “should go to our loved ones,” not become a free-for-all. AI replicas, she warned, can drift off-brand or reshape public memory.

“Shakespeare should always sound like Shakespeare,” she said. “Dr. Seuss should always sound like Dr. Seuss.”

For now, the AI “Scott Adams” fight is one family’s public line-drawing exercise. It may also be a preview of a broader reckoning in a world where convincing digital imitations are easy to make — and where the law is still struggling to answer who gets to decide whether the dead keep talking online.




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Microsoft just named Asha Sharma as its new Xbox CEO. Read the memos.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer is retiring, according to an email to employees. Microsoft executive Asha Sharma will become the new executive vice president and CEO of Microsoft Gaming, reporting directly to Nadella.

“Over 38 years at Microsoft, including 12 years leading Gaming, Phil helped transform what we do and how we do it,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote in the email.

“He expanded our reach across PC, mobile, and cloud; nearly tripled the size of the business; helped shape our strategy through the acquisitions of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax, and Minecraft; and strengthened our culture across our studios and platforms,” Nadella wrote.

Spencer’s departure marks the end of an era for Xbox. Under Spencer, Microsoft transformed gaming into a subscription- and services-driven business and completed the largest acquisition in its history, paying $69 billion for Activision Blizzard.

Sharma joined Microsoft in 2024 and has worked in the CoreAI group under Jay Parikh. She was previously a chief operating Officer at Instacart and a vice president of product and engineering at Meta before that.

Xbox’s president and chief operations officer, Sarah Bond, is leaving the company, while longtime Microsoft gaming executive Matt Booty will become executive vice president and chief content officer, reporting to Sharma.

Read Nadella’s memo

Gaming has been part of Microsoft from the start. Flight Simulator shipped before Windows, and you can practically ray‑trace a line from DirectX in the ’90s to the accelerated‑compute era we’re in today.

As we celebrate Xbox’s 25th year, the opportunity and innovation agenda in front of us is expansive. Today we reach over 500 million monthly active users, are a top publisher across all platforms, and continue to innovate across gaming hardware, content and community, in service of creators and players everywhere.

I am long on gaming and its role at the center of our consumer ambition, and as we look ahead, I’m excited to share that Asha Sharma will become Executive Vice President and CEO, Microsoft Gaming, reporting to me. Over the last two years at Microsoft, and previously as Chief Operating Officer at Instacart and a Vice President at Meta, Asha has helped build and scale services that reach billions of people and support thriving consumer and developer ecosystems. She brings deep experience building and growing platforms, aligning business models to long-term value, and operating at global scale, which will be critical in leading our gaming business into its next era of growth.

Matt Booty will become Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer, reporting to Asha. Matt’s career reflects a lifelong commitment to games and to the people who make them. Under his leadership, Microsoft Gaming has grown to span nearly 40 studios across Xbox, Bethesda, Activision Blizzard, and King, which are home to beloved franchises including Halo, The Elder Scrolls, Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Candy Crush, and Fallout.

Together, Asha and Matt have the right combination of consumer product leadership and gaming depth to push our platform innovation and content pipeline forward. Last year, Phil Spencer made the decision to retire from the company, and since then we’ve been talking about succession planning. I want to thank Phil for his extraordinary leadership and partnership. Over 38 years at Microsoft, including 12 years leading Gaming, Phil helped transform what we do and how we do it. He expanded our reach across PC, mobile, and cloud; nearly tripled the size of the business; helped shape our strategy through the acquisitions of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax, and Minecraft; and strengthened our culture across our studios and platforms. I’ve long admired Phil’s unwavering commitment to players, creators, and his team, and I am personally grateful for his leadership and counsel. He will continue working closely with Asha to ensure a smooth transition.

We have extraordinary creative talent across our studios and a global platform that is second to none. I’m excited for how we will capture the opportunity ahead and define what comes next, while staying grounded in what players and creators value.

Please join me in congratulating Asha and Matt on their new roles, and in thanking Phil for everything he has done for Microsoft and for our industry.

Read Phil Spencer’s memo

When I walked through Microsoft’s doors as an intern in June of 1988, I could never have imagined the products I’d help build, the players and customers we’d serve, or the extraordinary teams I’d be lucky enough to join. It’s been an epic ride and truly the privilege of a lifetime.

Last fall, I shared with Satya that I was thinking about stepping back and starting the next chapter of my life. From that moment, we aligned on approaching this transition with intention, ensuring stability, and strengthening the foundation we’ve built. Xbox has always been more than a business. It’s a vibrant community of players, creators, and teams who care deeply about what we build and how we build it. And it deserves a thoughtful, deliberate plan for the road ahead.

Today marks an exciting new chapter for Microsoft Gaming as Asha Sharma steps into the role of CEO, and I want to be the first to welcome her to this incredible team. Working with her over the past several months has given me tremendous confidence. She brings genuine curiosity, clarity and a deep commitment to understanding players, creators, and the decisions that shape our future. We know this is an important moment for our fans, partners, and team, and we’re committed to getting it right. I’ll remain in an advisory role through the summer to support a smooth handoff.

I’m also grateful for the strength of our studios organization. Matt Booty and our studios teams continue to build an incredible portfolio, and I have full confidence in the leadership and creative momentum across our global studios. I want to congratulate Matt on his promotion to EVP and Chief Content Officer.

As part of this transition, Sarah Bond has decided to leave Microsoft to begin a new chapter. Sarah has been instrumental during a defining period for Xbox, shaping our platform strategy, expanding Game Pass and cloud gaming, supporting new hardware launches, and guiding some of the most significant moments in our history. I’m grateful for her partnership and the impact she’s had, and I wish her the very best in what comes next.

Most of all, to everyone in Microsoft Gaming, I want to say “thank you”. I’ve learned so much from this team and community, grown alongside you, and been continually inspired by the creativity, courage, and care you bring to players, creators, and to one another every day.

I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built together over the last 25 years, and I have complete confidence in all of you and in the opportunities ahead. I’ll be cheering you on in this next chapter as Xbox’s proudest fan and player.

Phil

XBL: P3

Read Asha Sharma’s memo

Dear team,

Today I begin my role as CEO of Microsoft Gaming.

I feel two things at once: humility and urgency.

Humility because this team has built something extraordinary over decades. Urgency because gaming is in a period of rapid change, and we need to move with clarity and conviction.

I am stepping into work shaped by generations of artists, engineers, designers, writers, musicians, operators and more who create worlds that have brought joy and deep personal meaning to hundreds of millions of players. The level of craft here is exceptional, and it is amplified by Xbox, which was founded in the belief that the power of games connect people and push the industry forward.

Thank you to Phil for his leadership, and to every studio, platform, and operations team that built this foundation. We are stewards of some of the most loved stories and characters in entertainment and bring players and creators together around the fun and community of gaming in entirely new ways.

My first job is simple: understand what makes this work and protect it.

That starts with three commitments.

First, great games.

Everything begins here. We must have great games beloved by players before we do anything. Unforgettable characters, stories that make us feel, innovative game play, and creative excellence. We will empower our studios, invest in iconic franchises, and back bold new ideas. We will take risks. We will enter new categories and markets where we can add real value, grounded in what players care about most.

I promoted Matt Booty in honor of this commitment. He understands the craft and the challenges of building great games, has led teams that deliver award-winning work, and has earned the trust of game developers across the industry.

Second, the return of Xbox.

We will recommit to our core Xbox fans and players, those who have invested with us for the past 25 years, and to the developers who build the expansive universes and experiences that are embraced by players across the world.

We will celebrate our roots with a renewed commitment to Xbox starting with console which has shaped who we are. It connects us to the players and fans who invest in Xbox, and to the developers who build ambitious experiences for it.

Gaming now lives across devices, not within the limits of any single piece of hardware. As we expand across PC, mobile, and cloud, Xbox should feel seamless, instant, and worthy of the communities we serve. We will break down barriers so developers can build once and reach players everywhere without compromise.

Third, future of play.

We are witnessing the reinvention of play.

To meet the moment, we will invent new business models and new ways to play by leaning into what we already have: iconic teams, characters, and worlds that people love. But we will not treat those worlds as static IP to milk and monetize. We will build a shared platform and tools that empower developers and players to create and share their own stories.

As monetization and AI evolve and influence this future, we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop. Games are and always will be art, crafted by humans, and created with the most innovative technology provided by us.

The next 25 years belong to the teams who dare to build something surprising, something no one else is willing to try, and have the patience to see it through. We have done this before, and I am here to help us do it again. I want to return to the renegade spirit that built Xbox in the first place. It will require us to relentlessly question everything, revisit processes, protect what works, and be brave enough to change what does not.

Thank you for welcoming me into this journey.

Asha

Read Matt Booty’s memo

I read Phil’s note with much gratitude. He has been a steady champion for game creators and our studio teams, and I’ve learned so much from his leadership over the years. All our games have benefited from his foundational support. I’m also grateful to Satya for his ongoing commitment to gaming and holding a vision of how it can connect back to the larger company.

Looking forward, I’m excited to partner with Asha as our next CEO. Our first conversations centered on her commitment to making great games and the role that plays in our overall success. She asks questions, pushes for clarity, and wants our choices grounded in player and developer needs. That mindset matters as the industry around us is changing quickly: how players engage, how games are made, and how business models and platforms evolve.

We have good reasons to believe in what’s ahead. This organization and its franchises have navigated change for decades, and our strength comes from teams who know how to adapt and keep delivering. That confidence is grounded in a strong pipeline of established franchises, new bets we believe in, and clear player demand for what we are building.

My focus is on supporting the teams and leaders we have in place and creating the conditions for them to do their best work. To be clear, there are no organizational changes underway for our studios.

Thanks for everything you do for players and for each other.

-Matt

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OpenAI just hired another employee from Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab

Another employee at Thinking Machines Lab is leaving to rejoin OpenAI.

It’s the latest in a string of departures from the $12 billion AI startup, which is led by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati and lately has been the subject of high-profile poaching campaigns from bigger tech companies.

The latest employee to go back to OpenAI is Jolene Parish, who joined Thinking Machines Lab in April last year, according to her LinkedIn profile. She had worked at OpenAI for three years prior. Before that, she worked for 10 years on security at Apple, her profile says.

Other employees rejoined OpenAI last month. Two co-founders, former CTO Barret Zoph and Luke Metz, both left, along with researcher Sam Schoenholz.

Lia Guy, another researcher, also rejoined OpenAI, The Information reported. Another cofounder, Andrew Tulloch, left for Meta late last year, The Wall Street Journal reported.

OpenAI and Thinking Machines Lab declined to comment.

Thinking Machines Lab raised a monster $2 billion funding round last year, valuing the company at $12 billion, spokespeople said at the time. The startup launched its first product, Tinker, last October.

The San Francisco-based company has become known for attracting star-studded talent. It quietly hired Neal Wu, a legendary coder who won three gold medals in an Olympiad for programming, and Soumith Chintala, the creator of the open-source AI project PyTorch at Meta, who is now Thinking Machines Lab’s CTO, Business Insider previously reported.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at crollet@businessinsider.com or on Signal and WhatsApp at 628-282-2811. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here‘s our guide to sharing information securely.




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The battle over Trump tariff refunds is next — and it will be messy

The Supreme Court on Friday overturned the centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s tariff plans, ruling the federal government illegally collected over $133 billion in taxes from American businesses.

Now comes the battle over refunds for tariffs paid, which Trump on Friday predicted could take years.

“I guess it has to get litigated for the next two years,” he said at a White House press conference, while blasting the ruling as “terrible” and “defective.”

One reason: Over 1,000 companies have filed lawsuits to claw back money from the government if the Supreme Court overturned Trump’s tariffs justified by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

In his dissenting opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh also predicted the process could become a “mess,” citing refund requests tallying “billions of dollars to importers,” even as some importers have already passed those costs to consumers.

Here are all your questions about tariff refunds, answered by experts.

Alright, who do I ask to get a refund?

Typically, the refund process would be handled by Customs and Border Protection, which collected the tariffs in the first place.

In order for that to happen, the Trump administration would need to establish a process for handling refund requests. The White House, which didn’t return Business Insider’s request for comment, has yet to signal plans to do this, said Rachel Brewster, a professor of international trade at Duke Law School.

Without a formal process in place, claims will be litigated in the Court of International Trade, which will order CPB to issue refunds to specific companies, Brewster said.

OK, so how will the court handle the process?

In the past, the Court of International Trade has ordered refunds when it has found particular taxes to be invalid — albeit on a smaller scale, according to Daniel Mach, a commercial litigator at Bryan Cave.

It’ll likely turn to the process that followed a 1998 Supreme Court decision to overturn a harbor maintenance tax, which also resulted in refunds, Mach said.

“It’s been a while,” Mach said. “Everyone’s going to be kind of figuring out the ropes as they go. But at the end of the day, it’s not an unsolvable problem.”

Given the number of claims, the Court of International Trade is likely to appoint an administrator or special master to consider each of them, rather than handling the lawsuits piecemeal, Mach said.

Groups that advocated for the Supreme Court to overturn the IEEPA tariffs have urged the Court of International Trade to develop a smooth process for refunds.

“The refunds will serve as an economic boost and allow companies to reinvest in their operations, their employees and their customers,” said David French, an executive at the National Retail Federation, in a statement.

OK, that sounds messy. How long will it take to get a refund?

The whole refund process — whether through CPB or through a class-action or administrative processes in court — could take up to two years, according to Brewster.

Have a lot of companies asked for refunds?

Yes! The cases that went to the Supreme Court were groups of small companies, including a wine importer and an educational toy retailer. But several massive corporations, including Toyota and Costco, have also filed refund lawsuits.

What about me? My Shein order was more expensive than expected.

You can try to get a refund for personal orders hit by tariffs, but it’ll be complicated.

In asking CPB or a court for a refund, you’ll have to distinguish tariffs you paid pursuant to IEEPA, which were overturned, and the tariffs justified by other laws, which remain on the books.

Individual lawsuits for IEEPA tariffs on individual retailer orders, like from Temu and Shein, likely won’t be worthwhile. The legal fees would likely exceed any potential refund. But it’s possible that some enterprising litigators would put together a class-action lawsuit to make it worthwhile, Brewster predicted.

“It was an illegally imposed tax,” she said. “So in theory, everyone is entitled to a refund.”

With reporting by Brent Griffins




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Lucia Moses

Peacock’s next growth bet: selling subscriptions for other streamers

Peacock’s next growth bet isn’t a blockbuster show or sports deal.

NBCU’s flagship streaming service is plotting to sell add-on subscriptions to other specialty streamers on its platform, four people familiar with the plans told Business Insider.

Peacock has approached streamers about selling subscriptions to offer viewers content that complements its reality and sports-heavy line-up, these people said. Peacock expects to start with one streamer this year and is likely to limit the offering to a small number of partners.

Starz, which already has multiple distribution partnerships, is one that’s being considered, two insiders said. Starz declined to comment.

Two people briefed on Peacock’s pitch saw it as a way for smaller streamers to reach new subscribers in a relatively uncluttered environment, and they hoped Peacock would eventually offer features such as the ability for streamers to offer free samples of their shows.

They described Peacock’s terms as favorable compared to Amazon, which has a large business selling subscriptions to programmers big and small, from HBO Max to Crunchyroll. Amazon’s channel terms vary by partner, but two partners told Business Insider in 2025 that Amazon’s subscription revenue cut was over 50% in their deals.

Peacock’s plans come at a time when streaming services — especially outside market leaders Netflix and Disney — face pressure to consolidate as they look to continue growing their subscriber bases while remaining profitable. Overall, paid streaming growth in the US has cooled, while cancellation rates have risen in the wake of price hikes.

Streamers like Peacock are trying to make themselves stickier

TV viewership growth for streamers in the US is largely stagnant, and subscribers are navigating an increasingly complex landscape. Streaming services are trying tactics like discounts and bundling to keep people from leaving their platforms.

Some other streaming platforms have adopted a marketplace approach that’s broader than what Peacock is contemplating. Amazon is by far the leader. Last year, Amazon reported that its “Channels” program accounted for about 25% of US streamer sign-ups, citing Antenna data. Roku, YouTube, and device makers like Samsung and LG also let people subscribe to streamers through their platforms.

Peacock, for its part, already sells add-on subscriptions to NBC Sports Regional Sports Networks, which it shares a corporate parent with. It also sells a bundle with Apple TV+ that involves cross-platform sampling and a discounted price.

Peacock, with less than 2% of TV watch time in the US, has struggled to grow its share of the TV pie, according to Nielsen. That makes it the second-smallest of the subscription streamers Nielsen measures, ahead only of Warner Bros. Discovery (1.4%), which includes Discovery+ and HBO Max.

US-only Peacock also has relatively few subscribers, with about 44 million. Its nearest rival, Paramount+, has around 79 million global subscribers, and both are well behind Netflix, which is No. 1 with more than 325 million subscribers.

Still, Peacock has far more subscribers than many specialty streamers. AMC Networks, for example, reported about 10 million subscribers across its portfolio of streamers, including AMC+, Acorn TV, and Shudder, as of the end of 2025.

“Peacock has been struggling,” said Alan Wolk, a media industry analyst. “There haven’t been a whole lot of reasons to watch it, so giving people another reason to subscribe is a smart idea. If you ask consumers what’s your biggest frustration with streamers, it’s always, ‘I can’t find anything.’ So the more you can put things together under one interface, the happier people will be.”

A global survey by Nielsen in November found more than 46% say it’s harder to find the content they want to watch because there are too many streamers, rising to 51% in the US, with people spending 14 minutes searching for what to watch and 49% likely to cancel because they can’t find something.

The survey also showed 66% of people expressed interest in a guide to present content information across all services.

James Faris contributed reporting.




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NATO is deploying a drone carrier to its eastern edge after repeated Russian airspace incursions

NATO is deploying a Turkish drone carrier to the Baltic Sea to boost its surveillance and defense in response to “repeated” Russian airspace violations, the alliance announced on Friday.

The TCG Anadolu will support Eastern Sentry, a defensive operation the alliance launched in September after Russian drones crossed into Polish airspace, forcing a military response.

The Turkish drone carrier is deploying toward the coast of Latvia, where it will contribute to air surveillance and defense along NATO’s eastern edge. Allies have been surging fighter jets and warships to the Baltic region in response to Russian drone incursions.

Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum, one of three operational-level NATO headquarters, said in a statement on Friday that the deployment of the Anadolu follows “repeated airspace violations” that have been attributed to Russia.

JFC Brunssum called the deployment “a clear signal to the east” and said that it “sends an unmistakable message” that NATO is prepared to defend its territory.


A Bayraktar TB3 drone during the NATO Steadfast Dart 2026 drill in the Baltic Sea on February 17, 2026.

A Bayraktar TB3 drone lands on the flight deck of the TCG Anadolu earlier this month.

Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images



It’s unclear when the carrier will arrive on station and how long it will remain there. The Turkish defense ministry could not immediately be reached for comment, and neither JFC Brunssum nor NATO’s Allied Air Command responded to a request for additional information.

The first-of-its-kind TCG Anadolu is the Turkish Navy’s only drone-carrying amphibious assault ship. It was commissioned in 2023 and is now Ankara’s most advanced vessel and flagship.

The 750-foot-long vessel was originally intended to carry helicopters and F-35B fighter jets, but after Turkey was kicked out of the F-35 program over its purchase of Russian surface-to-air missile systems, Ankara decided to repurpose the Anadolu for fixed-wing drones.

The Anadolu can carry Bayraktar TB-3 and Bayraktar Kızılelma combat drones, systems made by the Turkish company Baykar, as well as attack helicopters.

JFC Brunssum said the carrier is the largest ship in NATO’s Steadfast Dart fleet, which is comprised of 17 vessels, including amphibious landing ships, frigates, destroyers, and submarines.

Iran and China have also built their own drone carriers, and Portugal expects to receive one later this year.




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