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People are are flooding to the MyTSA app. It’s not fully functional right. now.

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US travelers are so sick of delays at major airports that they’re turning to an app that isn’t fully functional for insight on how long they’ll be stuck in line.

The MyTSA app, which provides 24/7 access to airport security information and allows travelers to check live security checkpoint wait times, has seen a spike in downloads this month as staffing shortages affect travel at airports across the country.

The partial government shutdown, which began on January 31, means there’s no funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Transportation Security Administration.

That means TSA agents aren’t being paid. Business Insider previously reported that over 300 of them have quit since the shutdown began, with even more calling out of work. It also means the data on the MyTSA app isn’t entirely accurate.

“It’s supposed to show you current security wait times, but what’s funny is that it’s not being correctly updated during the shutdown,” Sally French, travel analyst at NerdWallet, told Business Insider. “I’d usually recommend flyers to check it, but not right now.”

It is not clear how often, or which portions, of the MyTSA app are being regularly updated, or how reliable the information presented may be. When opening the app, MyTSA presents a message, highlighted in red, that says “due to the lapse in federal funding, this website will not be actively managed,” — but that hasn’t stopped desperate travelers from trying their luck.

Data from Apptopia shows that the MyTSA app has been downloaded about 8.6 million times since it launched in June 2010, with 1.7 million of those downloads coming just within the last 6 months.

There was a spike in downloads mid November, which coincided with the end of the last government shutdown. The November spike was the largest surge in usage until the most recent one began on March 9th. Since then, Apptopia has found that MyTSA has been the top Travel app in the US App Store, racking up more than 723,000 downloads in less than 10 days.

Its highest overall ranking across all app categories was #5 on March 10, and it experienced its biggest day of downloads on March 11th, with 115,000 installs, according to Apptopia.

When reached for comment by Business Insider, a DHS spokesperson blamed Democrats for the government shutdown and the associated travel delays.

At major airports across the country, massive staff shortages continue, the spokesperson added — more than 40% of TSA staff had called out from work at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston on Tuesday, along with nearly 36% of agents at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

While the MyTSA app may offer a rough sense of what to expect, travelers looking for more reliable, real-time updates may have better luck checking their airport’s official website or social media channels, where some airports are posting more frequent security wait-time updates during disruptions.

For now, the app’s popularity says less about its accuracy and more about the growing uncertainty facing anyone heading to the airport.




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Claude hits No. 1 on App Store as ChatGPT users defect in show of support for Anthropic’s Pentagon stance

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While OpenAI locks down Washington, Anthropic is locking down users and rocketing to the top of the App Store.

Anthropic has been sidelined in Washington following a public dispute with the Department of Defense over how its AI models would be deployed. President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to phase out its technology.

Meanwhile, OpenAI has secured new ground, with CEO Sam Altman announcing in a Friday night post on X that it had reached an agreement with the Department of War to deploy AI models in its classified network.

OpenAI’s agreement has left some loyal ChatGPT users uneasy about OpenAI’s ambitions, prompting online debates about the ethical implications — and some saying they were defecting to its rival Claude.

As of 6:38 p.m. ET on Saturday, Claude ranked number one among the most downloaded productivity apps on Apple’s App Store, trailing ChatGPT.


A screencap of the app store

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Converts have taken to social media to share screenshots documenting their switch.

Pop musician Katy Perry wrote that she was “done” on X, alongside a screenshot of Claude’s pricing page, with a red heart around the $20-per-month “Pro” plan.

Another X user, Adam Lyttle, wrote “Made the switch,” alongside a screenshot of his email inbox with a receipt from Anthropic and cancellation confirmation from OpenAI.

On Reddit’s ChatGPT subreddit, dozens of users say they’ve deleted their accounts and are urging others to do the same.

“Cancel ChatGPT” has become a common refrain online, while some users have taken a more personal tone, saying Altman’s move “crossed the line.”

The agreement hasn’t polarized all AI users, however.

In one Reddit thread, several commenters said the news does not affect their choice of AI model, arguing that Anthropic’s work with Palantir raises similar concerns. In November 2024, Anthropic, Palantir, and Amazon Web Services struck an agreement to provide US intelligence and defense agencies access to Claude models.

After Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said he would designate Anthropic as a “supply chain risk to national security,” Anthropic said it would “challenge any supply chain risk designation in court.”

In his Friday post, Altman said the Department of War had agreed with two of OpenAI’s safety principles.

“Two of our most important safety principles are prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems,” Altman wrote on X. “The DoW agrees with these principles, reflects them in law and policy, and we put them into our agreement.”

By Saturday afternoon, OpenAI published a more detailed description of its contract with the DoW, including the specific language it used surrounding the use of its models for surveillance and autonomous weapons.

On the topic of autonomous weapons, OpenAI said:

The AI System will not be used to independently direct autonomous weapons in any case where law, regulation, or Department policy requires human control, nor will it be used to assume other high-stakes decisions that require approval by a human decisionmaker under the same authorities.

On the topic of mass surveillance, OpenAI said:

The AI System shall not be used for unconstrained monitoring of U.S. persons’ private information as consistent with these authorities.

While some chatbot users suggested it’s all fair in business, war, and federal procurement, others suggested the Pentagon’s stance may have handed Anthropic a public relations win.

X user Tae Kim joked that Hegseth might need a new title: “Secretary Hegseth Chief of Claude Marketing.”




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I’m a Stanford student who uses the new dating app that’s taken the campus by storm. It’s fun, but I haven’t met my match yet.

by with No Comment Xpandfy

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Mila Wagner-Sanchez, a freshman at Stanford Univeristy, who uses Date Drop, a new dating app created by Henry Weng, a Stanford senior. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I’m a 19-year-old freshman at Stanford University. I wasn’t sure what to expect on campus — whether people would be actively dating or not. I have friends on both sides of the spectrum; some are more focused on school and friendships, and some are in relationships.

But I initially found Date Drop through my friends.

It was one of those week one things — everyone was getting to know each other, and we all decided it could be fun if we signed up together.

Date Drop has interesting dating app features

I’ve never been on a dating app like Hinge or Tinder, but I was surprised by the complexity of the questions that Date Drop asked. The questions on Date Drop were like: “What do you do for fun,” “What are you doing academically,” “Do you have any age, height, or ethnicity preferences,” and so on.

It also asked whether you preferred long-term or short-term relationships, and how many kids you wanted. It was very comprehensive. There was even an open-ended question asking me to describe my perfect date.

Anyone on campus can sign up — from freshmen to seniors to grad students. We have another similar platform on campus called Marriage Pact that matches once a year, but Date Drop matches weekly.

Also, if you want to get to know someone, you can enter their info, or if you want to try to match two people, you can influence the algorithm. For example, you can play matchmaker and enter the info for two people across the hall from each other that you want matched. It never tells you who has put you into Date Drop; it’ll say that someone has “shipped” you with someone else.

I got matched twice

The first time, I was matched with a friend of mine, which was fun. We treated it as a friend date and went out to get coffee at a coffee shop that was giving out free drinks to Date Drop dates.

I was matched a second time, but that person didn’t reach out, so it went nowhere.

After that, I had other stuff going on, like midterms that I needed to focus on, and Date Drop had kind of lost its novelty. Most of my friends had a similar experience.

I’d be open to doing it again

Stanford is smaller, so I think it’s easier to get to know people than it is at a state school. There’s more of a community, and the chances of you knowing a friend who knows your Date Drop or a friend of a friend are high. A lot of people have similar interests, which makes it easier to strike up a conversation than it might be at a bigger school.

Our generation has grown up on online platforms and sees them as a way to connect with others. It’s definitely a culture shift. I also think it’s not bad to try something new. You never know what’s going to happen, and I think a lot of us go into it with that mentality.

While I didn’t find a match, I’d be open to doing it again in the future. I do know a couple of Date Drop couples. I’d do it again if it were something my sophomore year dorm wanted to do together, as a way to get out there and meet people.




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I used an AI-powered app to lose 70 pounds. I reversed my diabetes and can keep up with my 8-year-old.

by with No Comment Xpandfy

This interview is based on a conversation with Lyle Wallace, 45, a Dallas pastor. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I hit 6 feet 3 inches tall as a freshman in high school and weighed around 185 pounds.

Then, while playing a lot of sports like football and basketball during my junior and senior years, I ate a lot of protein and built a ton of muscle, eventually reaching 230 pounds.

It was all good because I was running around doing all sorts of exercise, and my metabolism was fast. That all changed when I started Bible college in upstate New York, and my physical health became less of a priority.

My job was stressful, and I found it hard to detach

The weight crept on. Then, when I entered the ministry, I found myself eating out a lot with the young members of the congregation. Sitting at a table together was a good way to bond and establish trust.

The only trouble was that we went to fast food places like Taco Bell or Mexican restaurants, where you fill up on chips and salsa before the main course arrives.

The job was stressful because I found it difficult to detach from other people’s emotions as they dealt with bad stuff like domestic violence and sexual abuse.


An overweight man kneeling on a dock with a young boy

Wallace weighed over 285 pounds at his heaviest

Courtesy of Lyle Wallace



I turned to food as an outlet and became less healthy by the month. I had terrible digestive issues and bouts of diverticulitis. I had several colonoscopies and liver biopsies in my 20s and 30s and was found to have a fatty liver.

They should have been warning signs, but I ignored them and stayed sedentary. I’d sit in my office studying, writing sermons, and doing paperwork. My metabolism slowed down as I got older, but I didn’t change my habits.

I had problems with tendonitis, with symptoms mimicking a heart attack, pressure on my joints, and suffered excruciating pain from a bad back. I had spine surgery in 2019.

I was prescribed Metformin

My wife, Nicole, would be on top of me about the causes, but I didn’t face facts. It was only when I was diagnosed with diabetes in January 2023 that I became seriously worried.

My dad was diabetic and needed three or four insulin shots a day. I’m terrified of needles and didn’t want to go down the same route. The scale registered over 285 pounds.

I was prescribed Metformin, but not given any advice about improving my lifestyle. My blood sugar levels actually increased — one of my A1C tests showed 8.0 — and I despaired.

Still, it was a wake-up call. My health insurance company encouraged me to sign up for an app called Twin Health, which created an AI-powered “digital twin” of my metabolism.


A man standing in a doorway

Wallace at his current weight of 215 pounds after reversing his diabetes.

Courtesy of Lyle Wallace



It collected my health information, including data from lab tests, a smart scale, a blood pressure cuff, and real-time glucose monitor sensors, and made personalized recommendations for nutrition, sleep, and exercise.

The app advised me what to eat and when. I learned that consuming protein and fiber on my plate before any carbohydrates helped my metabolism. Nicole and I scanned barcodes at the supermarket to assess the suitability of certain foods and prevent sugar spikes.

I’ve reversed my diabetes

I increased my physical activity by building up to walking four miles a day, without causing back pain. The other day, I ran after my 8-year-old daughter and her cousin and overtook them. They couldn’t believe it.

My current weight is 215 pounds, 70 pounds lighter than before. I’ve gone from a 42-inch to a 36-inch waist and lost 2.5 inches off my collar size.

Best of all, I’ve reversed my diabetes — reducing my A1C to 5.1 —and am medication-free. People in my congregation keep asking how I did it. I’m not a particularly high-tech guy, but AI worked wonders for me.




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I embedded myself in a vibe coding team at Gemini’s AI hackathon in Singapore. Building an app in 7 hours takes real work.

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  • I spent seven hours with a vibe coding team at Google’s Gemini 3 hackathon in Singapore.
  • Watching from the sidelines was intense.
  • From prompting and debugging to filming the demo — here’s how it all unfolded.

Just after sunrise, four vibe coding enthusiasts from Malaysia crossed into Singapore with a loose idea — and a bet that AI could build most of their app.

Hours later, they were racing to prototype it at Google’s Gemini 3 Hackathon in Singapore.

The four friends, all in their late 30s to 40s, came from different professional backgrounds. Chan Wei Khjan is an accountant. Chan Ler-Kuan lectures on AI at a private university. Loh Wah Kiang works in IT. Lee How Siem, who goes by Benny, is the chief technology officer of a Malaysian startup.

Their initial idea was a “feng shui” app to analyze properties in Singapore — a potentially lucrative use case in a market obsessed with housing and wealth accumulation. Feng shui is a traditional Chinese practice that evaluates how a person’s surroundings, along with birth factors, influence luck and well-being.

I embedded with the team at Google’s developer space in Singapore in January to observe how a vibe-coding project comes together — or nearly falls apart — in seven hours.

9:30 a.m.: The brief

Thorsten Schaeff from Google DeepMind welcomed the participants.

Lee Chong Ming/Business Insider

The assignment: Teams of up to four people had to build a working demo, publish a public repository with code, and submit a short video explaining their project by 5:30 p.m.

Each project had to fit into one of six tracks, including generative media, deep research, and enterprise orchestration.

Organized by Google DeepMind and 65labs, Singapore’s AI builder collective, the hackathon featured a 100,000-credit Gemini API prize pool, with first place getting 30,000 credits.

By the end of the day, 189 participants had built 76 projects.

10:30 a.m.: Getting started


Hackathon team getting started

The team discusses how to prototype their idea.

Lee Chong Ming/Business Insider

The team had pivoted to a new idea due to time constraints: a feng shui app that could analyse a user’s outfit and workspace through the phone camera in real time and assess how “lucky” they were.

Wei Khjan took the lead on prompting. He typed the first instructions into Claude, asking it to generate the workflow and code. Ler-Kuan focused on whether the AI’s output aligned with feng shui concepts. Wah Kiang and Benny hovered over the codebase, refining ideas and flagging issues.

“For people who don’t know how to read code, it’s helpful to have people who do,” Wei Khjan said.

While waiting for the code to be generated, Ler-Kuan opened Google’s AI Studio to design the app’s logo. They called their app “Feng Shui Banana.”

11:40 a.m.: The bugs arrive


computer screen with code

The implementation plan was generated by AI.

Lee Chong Ming/Business Insider

After about an hour, Claude generated the initial codebase for the app. It was designed to work with the Gemini Live API, enabling real-time image and text analysis. It ran but was riddled with bugs.

An error message flashed when they tested the camera feature, so Wei Khjan copied the error back into the AI and asked for it to be fixed. Minutes later, the feature worked.

It wasn’t right. The feng shui logic was off, especially where colour analysis intersected with the user’s birth timings. Ler-Kuan manually corrected the underlying dictionary and its mappings.

The team kept prompting to tighten the features: shorter explanations, clearer output, and more streamlined user interfaces.

By 12 p.m., the app was rough, but it existed.

12:20 p.m.: Lunch can wait


Testing the feng shui app

Ler-Kuan tests the camera feature on the app.

Lee Chong Ming/Business Insider

Lunch arrived. The team stayed glued to their screens.

The app didn’t respond instantly when a user changed their outfit, nor did it update its feng shui analysis in real time.

Wei Khjan explained how one prompt matters. Instead of issuing commands, he asked the AI to “discuss it with me.” The shift changed how the model reasoned, and it worked more like a collaborator.

After some prompting, the app updated with a real-time camera analysis. It was striking to watch a feature emerging from a short back-and-forth with AI.

1 p.m.: Putting the app to the test


Screenshot of me testing the app

A screenshot of the feng shui app on my phone as I test its camera feature.

Lee Chong Ming/Business Insider

I helped the team test the app.

The camera correctly identified what I was wearing: a dark green polo, a yellow participant tag, and a white name card hanging from my neck. According to the app, I was already wearing colours aligned with my luck for the day.

The app suggested small tweaks, such as additional accessories, that could enhance the feng shui of my outfit.

1:20 p.m.: Pizza break


Pizza break

The team munched down their pizzas in about 20 minutes.

Lee Chong Ming/Business Insider

They finally had lunch and joked around to ease the tension. Four hours remained before they had to submit their project.

1:40 p.m.: Back to work


Feng shui banana landing page

The landing page for their app.

Lee Chong Ming/Business Insider

Ler-Kuan shifted focus to workspace feng shui, feeding knowledge into the model and refining how the app would evaluate desks and work setups. Wah Kiang and Benny worked on the video demo.

By 2 p.m., they had a landing page that looked animated and 3D. When I asked Wei Khjan how he felt, he smiled.

The team also revisited the app’s tagline. After cycling through suggestions from multiple AI models, they settled on a line that didn’t come from an AI at all: “A wisdom, not a superstition.”

3 p.m.: Filming the demo


Filming the demo

Wah Kiang and Benny are filming Ler-Kuan as they reenact scenes for their demo video.

Lee Chong Ming/Business Insider

By late afternoon, the restlessness was showing. The team snacked and paced, then decided to film the video explaining their project.

They used Gemini to generate a storyboard for the demo video. The model laid out several scenes and drafted the script. The team followed along, filming clips and stitching everything together as they went.

Their workspace feature was also up and running.

4 p.m.: Final touches


Hackathon team scrambling

The team is hard at work as the deadline approaches.

Lee Chong Ming/Business Insider

The app had come together nicely. With some time to spare, they decided to add audio output for users who prefer listening to reading on a screen.

The first attempt to generate a voice using AI fell flat. It sounded robotic.

After debugging and several iterations, they landed on a voice they liked, similar to how a Chinese feng shui master might speak.

5:30 p.m.: Deadline


Finishing the hackathon

Taking a group photo as they submit the project.

Lee Chong Ming/Business Insider

As the deadline approached, the team was still stitching clips for their video and nitpicking the AI-generated presenter voice.

The organizers had urged teams to submit early. With about 15 minutes to spare, they made the call to lock the final cut and hit submit.

Then it was over. The hunger hit immediately, and everyone got in line for some well-deserved food.

Even as an observer, watching from the sidelines was tiring. Seven hours of vibe coding turned out to be anything but effortless.

The team didn’t win a prize, but agreed that the hackathon had been worth it.

“Sometimes, the best experiences come from saying ‘yes’ without overthinking,” said Ler Kuan. “Innovation starts with curiosity and a little bit of spontaneity.”

Do you have a story to share about vibe coding? Contact this reporter at cmlee@businessinsider.com.




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