Kenneth Shepard / Kotaku: Niantic Spatial says Pokémon Go data is “not part of” its deal with spatial AI company Vantor, after concerns that game data could be used for military drones  —  The company says it no longer receives data from the monster-catching app after Niantic was acquired by Scopely

The repurposing of Pokémon Go data for AI training continues to draw scrutiny.

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Failure raises questions about how Verizon prepares refurbished phones for new users.

"If I needed to fly on another vehicle, what would that look like?"

FinSMEs: New York City-based Current, which manages a consumer fintech platform, raised an $80M Series E at a $1.5B valuation led by Springcoast Partners  —  Current, NYC-based provider of a consumer fintech platform, raised $80M in Series E equity financing, at a $1.5 Billion valuation.

Scientists at the University of Hong Kong have created a remarkable new type of brain-inspired chip that can function just above absolute zero, one of the coldest environments imaginable. By using a standard silicon carbide transistor in a completely new way, the team made a single device behave like an energy-efficient neuron, firing electrical “spikes” similar to those in the human brain.

Dave Lewis said family considerations and AI's growing influence on the tech industry helped shape his latest career move. Dave Lewis Dave Lewis spent more than a decade working across Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. After his second layoff in three years, he reflected on where the tech industry was headed next. Lewis shared his career journey and advice for navigating a challenging job market. Dave Lewis had what it took to land jobs at some of the most sought-after Big Tech companies. But after getting laid off twice in three years, he found himself grappling with where he fit into the future of tech. Lewis spent a decade at Google, was laid off by Amazon, rehired by Amazon, and eventually left for Microsoft — where he was laid off again. After the second layoff, the Montana resident thought hard about what came next. He'd spent much of his career in roles that required regular travel, most recently as a sales executive at Microsoft, and wanted to spend more time at home with his family. Lewis, who is in his 30s, also wanted long-term career growth. But with AI rapidly reshaping the tech industry, he knew finding the right path wouldn't be easy. He kept coming back to one question: "How do I make sure that I'm optimizing my career search for the next five years of what the industry's going to be, not the five years that have brought me here?" Over the past year, I've spoken with dozens of tech professionals like Lewis who have been laid off and forced to navigate a challenging job market. Many were affected by cuts intended to address overhiring during the pandemic and streamline operations. While the broader labor market has seen slow hiring and low levels of firing, tech has been different. Workers are competing not only with a growing pool of laid-off professionals but also with recent graduates and currently employed tech workers looking for new opportunities. Looming over everything is AI. While economists have debated what impact the technology has had on tech company layoffs and hiring, it's undeniably reshaping the industry — and influencing how workers like Lewis think about the future of their careers. Business Insider is speaking with workers who've found themselves at a corporate crossroads — whether due to a layoff, resignation, job search, or shifting workplace expectations. Share your story by filling out this form. Why he left Google after a decade Lewis said he was excited to join Google as a digital media manager in 2012 because it was one of the leading companies in his industry. Years later, during the pandemic, Lewis and his wife moved from New York City to Montana — not ideal, as some of his largest clients had been just down the street from the company's New York City office. At the same time, he was looking for a new challenge. "I was working on individual, complex problems instead of large industry ones, which is where I do my best work," he said. Dave Lewis left his role at Google for Amazon but was later laid off by both Amazon and Microsoft. Dave Lewis He decided the best move for his family was to stay in Montana and find a role that would support remote work. Amazon seemed like a good fit, and the role would help him grow, moving from an individual contributor role in sales into a broader product strategy role. In July 2022, Lewis joined Amazon as a product lead. Less than a year later, he was laid off as part of Amazon's workforce reductions. Amazon laid him off — and hired him back Lewis stayed in touch with his former managers and colleagues who had also been laid off, and learned about a new team that was being formed. In October 2023, Lewis rejoined Amazon as a technical product manager. "It was different getting hired back versus being hired new because I had some built-up goodwill, and people were familiar with my work," he said. Earlier that year, Amazon had announced that corporate employees would be required to work from the office three days a week. When Lewis rejoined, he said he was expected to make roughly monthly trips to Seattle, with the understanding that the arrangement would be revisited after his first year. Why he left Amazon for Microsoft Shortly before his one-year mark back at Amazon, policy shifted to five days a week in office. This time, it was clear to Lewis that his exception was going away. He and his wife discussed spending at least a year in Seattle while keeping their home in Montana, but ultimately decided it wasn't the best fit for their family. At the same time, Lewis was looking for a new professional challenge. His team had reached many of the goals it set out to accomplish. In January 2025, the same month Amazon's five-day office mandate took effect, Lewis left the company to start a remote partner sales executive role at Microsoft. While the role required some travel, it also offered a new professional challenge. Ten months later, Lewis' role at Microsoft was eliminated. For the second time in less than three years, he found himself looking for work. How he found his next role Fortunately, Lewis had enough savings to be selective about his next opportunity. He spoke with a former Google colleague who had founded the AI startup Emberos, which helps businesses optimize their digital footprint for AI-powered consumer search. Lewis was already interested in how AI was changing the way people find information online, and soon accepted a full-time position as head of partnerships. He said there is no office requirement for his role, though he expects to make regular trips to the company's office in Los Angeles. After taking April off to welcome his son, Lewis started working full time in May. For anyone navigating a layoff, Lewis said it's important to think carefully about what you're looking for before starting a job search. "The market is drastically changing every day," he said. "Think about roles that leverage your experience, challenge you to learn more about emerging technology, and offer long-term growth potential." Do you have a story to share about how you're navigating a career crossroads? If so, please reach out to the reporter via email at jzinkula@businessinsider.com, or via Signal at jzinkula.29. Read the original article on Business Insider

Cecilia Kang / New York Times: Google sues Chinese cybercrime network Outsider Enterprise, accusing it of using Gemini AI to create fake websites and scam hundreds of thousands of Americans  —  Google warned that artificial intelligence had supercharged the problem of online scams.Andria Lo for The New York Times

Reuters: SpaceX's trading debut will be a test of the “Musk premium”, the force behind Tesla's $1T+ valuation, and a gauge of investor appetite ahead of upcoming AI IPOs  —  SpaceX (SPCX.O) is set to begin trading on Nasdaq on Friday after investors poured $75 billion into the world's biggest IPO ever …

Heavy bomber drones are increasingly being used for logistics missions. Jake Epstein/Business Insider Ukraine initially developed heavier bomber drones to drop explosives on Russian positions. But as logistics missions near the front line have grown deadlier, bombers have begun taking on new roles. Ukrainian bombers are increasingly flying logistics missions, replacing human crews. UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, Ukraine — The heavy bomber drone rose from the ground in a blast of dust and debris, its propellers whirring over the empty training range. The drone, called "Max," was initially designed for a brutal battlefield task: hovering over Russian positions and dropping explosives. It can carry more than 90 pounds, enough to deliver a devastating blow. But now its job is changing. Like other drones made by Ukrainian manufacturer Perun, Max is increasingly being used for logistics missions, carrying supplies instead of bombs across a fiercely contested battlefield where vehicles, troops, and supply routes are under constant threat. "Bombers are now being used more and more for logistics," a Perun engineer, who requested to be identified as Petro for security reasons, told Business Insider at the range at a secret location in Ukraine last month. In Ukraine, drones are constantly watching from above, and soldiers have described the front lines as a widening "kill zone" that extends for miles on both sides. Here, any movement can trigger a fatal strike. Heavy bomber drones are increasingly being used for logistics missions. Jake Epstein/Business Insider Ukrainian officials, recognizing the growing threat to humans, have set out to replace soldiers wherever possible with drones and robotic systems for dangerous logistics missions. The goal is for machines to eventually handle 100% of front-line supply deliveries for Kyiv. Logistics missions without robots are becoming "simply impossible," Oleksiy Vyskub, Ukraine's first deputy defense minister, told Business Insider during a recent interview. "There is a hell on the ground where everything is happening," he said, and Ukraine must get as many people out of there as possible. New roles for bombers Perun's "Max" drone is not the only heavy bomber being pushed into logistics work. The "Vampire," another heavy bomber drone developed by Ukraine's Skyfall and introduced in late 2022, has also evolved into a multipurpose aircraft as Russian FPV drones increasingly threaten front-line supply routes, forcing Ukraine to turn to uncrewed systems to avoid putting troops at risk. Drones like the Perun Max can carry dozens of pounds worth of cargo. Jake Epstein/Business Insider "That's where Vampire comes into play," a Skyfall representative, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive developments, told Business Insider, adding that the drone is responsible for "a lot of logistics on the front lines." Soldiers and vehicles are still a part of these missions. "But when it's possible, the heavy bombers are being used to perform logistics," the representative said. Petro, the Perun engineer, said roughly 70% of the firm's drone missions are still bombing runs, but the logistics share is growing. For the "Max," the company's largest propeller-driven drone, 50% of its missions are logistics. "It's very effective for that role," Petro said. He said the drone is faster and harder to destroy than the uncrewed ground vehicles, or UGVs, that Ukrainian soldiers are also increasingly turning to for logistics missions. Ukrainian operators and manufacturers have said that UGVs have relatively short lifespans; some can survive only a handful of missions, depending on where on the battlefield they're used. A crew training on Perun drones in May. Jake Epstein/Business Insider Some Ukrainian brigades still use the "Max" strictly as a bomber. It can carry defective 155 mm shells that are unsafe to fire from artillery barrels but can be especially destructive when dropped on Russian positions. Still, the drone's share of logistics missions has increased thanks to its ability to deliver large payloads, such as ammunition and medicine, to troops, Petro said. Heavy bombers like the "Max" or "Vampire" are a priority for Ukraine's military. Mykhailo Fedorov, the country's defense minister, told reporters last month that deliveries of these aircraft, along with a wide range of other drones, have increased significantly. "If we compare what we delivered during the first four months of 2026 to the entire previous year," he said, "it is already a completely different scale." Ukraine's growing reliance on drones and robots is one of several ways it is trying to protect logistics from Russian attacks. In some areas near the front lines, Kyiv has covered key roads with anti-drone netting, though Russian forces have still found ways to break through and strike vehicles. Read the original article on Business Insider

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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Google CEO Sundar Pichai have said they are hearing a lot from companies about rising AI costs. Uber COO Andrew Macdonald recently gave voice to those concerns. Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg; Sam Barnes/Sportsfile for Collision; and Benjamin Fanjoy via Getty Images AI and tech CEOs are getting an earful from CIOs. Uber COO Andrew Macdonald raised concerns that big AI bills aren't delivering enough ROI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that when he talks to companies, he's asked, "Where is the revenue?" CIOs are worried their AI budgets are starting to max out with nothing to show for the costs incurred. Uber COO Andrew Macdonald gave voice to the growing concerns when he said in May that he's yet to see direct improvements in line with AI spending. The rise of budget consciousness stands in stark contrast to the freewheeling "tokenmaxxing" culture some companies adopted as AI agents began to spread. Many companies didn't adopt the leaderboards that made the initial wave of tokenmaxxing go viral, but AI costs are rising across the board. Here is what tech executives, engineers, and analysts are saying about the brewing backlash: Andrew Macdonald, Uber COO Uber COO Andrew Macdonald said it's hard to "draw a line" between token spending and notable improvements. Sam Barnes/Sportsfile for Collision via Getty Images Uber COO Andrew Macdonald set off a discussion about a potential reckoning over AI costs when he said the tech giant wasn't seeing productivity gains relative to its overall bill. "That link is not there yet, right?" he told Rapid Response. "I think maybe implicitly there is more that is getting shipped, but it's very hard to draw a line between one of those stats and, 'Okay, now we're actually producing 25% more useful consumer features.'" Macdonald's comments came after Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli Naga went viral for saying the company had already blown through its Claude Code budget for the year by April. Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said it will take companies "a little bit longer" to figure out AI implementation. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said it's a fair criticism for companies to ask where their money is going. "I think this is the most fair contribution — criticism right now of AI, which is, you hear companies saying, I am spending a ton of money on AI," Altman told CNBC during an interview on June 1. 'And I know some great stuff is happening, but I know there's a ton of waste, and you know, when — how long do I have to wait for it to really show up in revenue, and how long do I have to wait to really get the costs under control?" Altman said that he assumes the AI industry will "figure that out pretty quickly." Previously, the OpenAI CEO said one of the negative things he hears from companies is that "people feel like they're being very productive," but they aren't seeing actual gains. "'Where is the revenue, where are the actual productivity gains?'" Altman said during a recent virtual appearance at an AI event in Australia, according to Forbes Australia. Jeetu Patel, chief product officer, Cisco Cisco Chief Product Officer Jeetu Patel Big Event Media/Getty Images for HumanX Conference Cisco Chief Product Officer Jeetu Patel said the cost of tokens is not sustainable. "Right now, what's happening, is the cost of tokens are far higher than the actual value these tokens are generating at scale," Patel said recently at a Semafor event. Patel said the "risk" is what happens if the ROI doesn't increase. "The big risk in the market is if you don't create an equilibrium there, then people just pull back on using tokens and that's actually not good for anyone." Marty Kausas, CEO of Pylon Pylon CEO Marty Kausas said his startup's AI bill is set to rise significantly because the number of seats it needs has crossed into Anthropic's next tier. "Our Anthropic bill is about to jump from $400K → $1.4M/yr," Kausas wrote on X. "Not because usage exploded, but because we're about to cross 150 seats." Kausas also shared other thoughts about token spending in general, including that for engineering roles, the extra cost is worth using the latest model. "For a lot of other roles it's questionable," he wrote. "Apps nobody uses, skills someone already built. No ROI." Kausas said people need to be vigilant about how they're spending tokens, saying he "accidentally spent $4,000 in 3 days in Claude Code." Companies are also likely to impose spending limits. "We already require approval for more tokens on our support team," he wrote. "The era of token-maxxing is coming to an end." Scott Galloway, New York University Stern School of Business professor NYU professor Scott Galloway Cindy Ord/Getty Images Scott Galloway said the current moment "feels like '99," as in right before the dot-com bubble burst. "I'm waiting for the first CEO to come out and say, 'We have to get procurement involved, and we have to dramatically scale back our expenses here," Galloway said in late May during a live episode of the " Prof G Markets" podcast, which he cohosts. Galloway said that it's likely "a traditional Fortune 500 company" starts the narrative shift. "'Okay, this has been fun, but we have to dramatically decrease our AI investment, because we're not seeing the type of ROI we anticipated,'" Galloway said the company would say. Mark Cuban Billionaire Mark Cuban said it's not surprising companies are not seeing ROI. Heather Diehl/Getty Images Mark Cuban said the issue isn't token spending. "Companies have long failed at integrating new tech," Cuban wrote on X in response to a story about a CEO slashing token spending. Instead, companies need to think about, "what can a competitor to start up do, as an ai native company to disintermediate them." "It's the Innovator's AI Dilemma," he wrote. Jason Lemkin, founder of SaaStr SaaStr founder Jason Lemkin said some companies will find a way to seize the moment. Jason Lemkin Jason Lemkin, sometimes called the "Godfather of SaaS," said not all companies will be equal in a potential cash crunch. " I do think we're going to enter a world where things are more and more bifurcated, and we will see folks who get more and more gains from AI spend," Lemkin said during an episode of the "20VC" podcast published on May 28. Lemkin said companies "with well north of a million in revenue per employee" will continue to "tokenmaxx until there is no tomorrow." "If you're already hyper-efficient, you will find more ways to use AI," he said. "The folks that are less efficient, that are larger organizations and more traditional, I think, as the year goes on, will become more skeptical, especially if prices go up." Lemkin is the founder of SaaStr, the world's largest community of business-to-business founders. Shruti Gandhi, General Partner at Array Ventures Shruti Gandhi, a general partner at Array Ventures, said, "tokenmaxxing" firms sound like companies that would measure productivity by turning on all the lights. "Spending more doesn't mean producing more," she wrote on X. "Most companies handing out AI access to employees have no real idea what it's being used for, whether it changed any outcomes, or whether those outcomes would have been the same anyway." Tokenmaxxing is just electricity-maxxing. Picture a factory CEO walking around saying “look how productive we are!” while every single light is on, all the machines are idling, and he’s bragging about the power bill. That’s what a lot of AI companies sound like right now.… https://t.co/5yN82HN3Db — Shruti Gandhi / Array VC preseed rounds (@atShruti) May 27, 2026 She said some companies "will get serious about understanding the ROI," but others will only realize too late that they should have paid closer attention. "The bigger question is what tools we actually need to start figuring this out, because right now nobody really has a good answer," she wrote. Richard Socher, CEO of Recursive Superintelligence and You.com Veteran AI researcher Richard Socher said his company, Recursive Superintelligence, is punching above its weight thanks to its massive token spend. "It feels like our small team is executing at a level that's like 10, 20x the size," Socher said during a May episode of the "This Week in AI" podcast. "Like we're having research results that I would have expected maybe teams of like hundreds of people to do, but we're teams of several dozens only." Socher, who was previously the head of AI research at Salesforce, said he expected more startups to have a budget like his, where spending on AI compute exceeds what is spent on actual employees Recursive Superintelligence is named after the idea that AI may eventually be able to improve itself. Socher said the startup's expenses are the reality if the company hopes to push the future of AI. Gary Marcus, an AI researcher and professor emeritus at New York University Gary Marcus said the AI industry is in trouble if other companies have the same experience as Uber. Sam Barnes/Web Summit via Sportsfile via Getty Images AI commentator Gary Marcus said that "agent hysteria" drove a lot of initial AI demand. "Now the critical variable is whether these agents, which are expensive, pay off," Marcus wrote on X in May. "The cases of Uber and Microsoft, the frustrations of GeoHotz (who was all in), etc are possibly signs that the reliability and payoff may not be there for a lot of customers." The AI industry is in trouble if other companies have the same experience as Uber, Marcus said. "If enough other companies report the same, the bubble pops. 🫧," he wrote on X. Michael Burry, investor of "The Big Short" fame Michael Burry, investor of "The Big Short" fame, doesn't see "tokenmaxxing" lasting. Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images Investor Michael Burry, a frequent skeptic of Nvidia's valuation, has said the "tokenmaxxing" trend won't last. "Tokenmaxxing is not merely heavy AI use, and it is certainly not sustainable AI use," he wrote in a May post on his Substack. "It is quota-driven, leaderboard-driven, management-mandated overconsumption." Burry called the unrestrained AI spending a "crazy, rushed, temporary phase." He said it's simply unsustainable for the AI industry. "Everyone is already using it, and many are using it as frantically and expensively as possible during this mass training phase." Known for his massive bet against the mid-2000s housing bubble that later led to his Hollywood moment, Burry has become a frequent Substack commentator, where he expresses his views about an AI bubble. In the past, Nvidia has felt the need to push back on his commentary. Akshat Bubna, cofounder and CTO of Modal Modal CTO Akshat Bubna said it's hard for companies to know which tokens are simply a waste. "Pretty sure 50% of internal token spend is completely useless, but right now it's hard to know which 50%," Bubna wrote on X. Bubna said he would love to have a much better way to track usage. "As an admin I'd love a dashboard that breaks down each person's spend into summarized clusters," he wrote. "Much easier to spend more when you can draw a clear line to value." Sundar Pichai, Google CEO Google CEO Sundar Pichai touted a new AI model that is focused on efficiency. Karl Mondon / AFP via Getty Images Google CEO Sundar Pichai said he's hearing the concerns directly. "I've heard anecdotally from a lot of CIOs who are so concerned about how much their companies are blowing through budgets," Pichai recently said at Google's flagship developer conference, I/O. "You can feel it talking to them. And, I think the problem is going to get worse as we go through the year." Pichai's response isn't to dismiss the bean counters but to pitch them a more efficient AI model. He touted Google's Gemini 3.5 Flash, a model that the company said was "optimized for real-world tasks at a higher speed and lower cost." "Even accounting for token use," he said, "Flash is remarkably cost-efficient." Read the original article on Business Insider

There we were, a regular murderers’ row of librarians. Little Jo. Eustace. And me. Turning around in the nave of our library to greet the sound of footsteps, pistols leveled in case whoever was coming in didn’t respect sanctuary. Little Jo had a stack of books under one arm. Eustace was holding the screwdriver she’d…

OpenAI introduces three Academy courses that help people build practical AI skills, create repeatable workflows, and apply agents in everyday work.

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Agentic AI has created demand for cross-source reasoning that didn't exist 12 months ago...

Using AI for its own sake shouldn't be the goal, Synthesia's HR leader said. Luis Alvarez/Getty Images Firms should focus on AI's business impact, not maximizing tokens workers use, an HR leader said. Rewarding AI use alone might not boost productivity or innovation, said Synthesia's Laura Gonzalez. More companies are taking a closer look at how workers use the tech — and discouraging tokenmaxxing. Move over, tokenmaxxing. Focusing on AI usage rather than what it delivers risks incentivizing the wrong efforts, said Laura Gonzalez, head of people at the AI video company Synthesia‍. The better goal, she said, is impact. Her view aligns with a sentiment from a growing number of leaders that heavy AI use isn't necessarily a win for business. Measuring software developers chiefly on token usage would be like evaluating a salesperson based on how many calls they made rather than how many deals they closed, she said. "It's not the metric for success," Gonzalez said of token use. Instead, she said, companies should focus on the business impact AI delivers. Rather than looking at how many tokens someone burns, a common metric for measuring AI usage, better questions include whether the tech is helping teams ship faster, prepare better for customer calls, or shorten the time it takes new hires to start making an impact, Gonzalez said. Synthesia, based in London, develops software that lets businesses create AI-generated videos for training, marketing, and other purposes, so its workers use AI broadly across all roles, she said. While the company doesn't reward workers for going wild with token use, it still wants to see them use the tech. "We expect absolutely everyone to leverage and use AI when necessary internally," Gonzalez said. A shifting tide Not focusing on tokens marks a departure from the messaging at some companies, where leaders treated burn rates as an indicator of AI adoption. In some cases, leaderboards highlight employees generating the most AI activity. Now, surging AI costs for some heavy users are prompting some bosses to rethink what they tell workers. At Coinbase, AI usage spiked in February after Claude rolled out a new coding model. Now, the crypto exchange uses price caps from $500 to $5,000 a week, depending on a worker's level and job, Business Insider previously reported. Marty Kausas, CEO of the customer-operations platform Pylon, said Wednesday that his company's annual Anthropic bill is set to jump from $400,000 to $1.4 million as it moves to an enterprise pricing tier. Kausas, who said he inadvertently spent $4,000 on Claude Code in three days, predicted that the era of tokenmaxxing is "coming to an end." Gonzalez said cost concerns don't drive the company's approach to deemphasizing tokens. In January, Synthesia announced it had raised a $200 million series E round, valuing the firm at $4 billion. Not encouraging going big on token use also doesn't mean forgoing innovation, she said. "You can still have a culture of experimentation and providing people with the tools to go run with things without rewarding token maximization," Gonzalez said. When tokens matter There are still times, like during a hackathon, when the company has used a leaderboard to show token use. Yet those are the exceptions, she said. The corporate push-pull over token use comes as many employers seek ways to incentivize AI use among their workers to boost productivity. In some cases, managers are using dashboards to track how much staff in roles like software development are using AI. In some cases, employers are considering AI use in how they evaluate workers. Token allocations can still matter, particularly for new hires who might arrive with different expectations about access to AI tools. Prospective employees might still want to understand which AI resources they'll have access to, said Jeff Hyman, a recruiter with about 30 years of experience. He compared asking about token allocations to a question workers routinely asked in an earlier era: "Does the job include a laptop?" Do you have a story to share about your token use? Contact this reporter at tparadis@businessinsider.com. Read the original article on Business Insider

A man set out to answer a workplace question: which of his colleagues stressed him out the most? miniseries/Getty Images A tech worker said a joke about stressful meetings turned into a data-backed workplace experiment. Pankaj Tanwar used his Whoop data and work calendar to rank which meetings raised his heart rate. The project is the latest example of a coding boom, where people build software for personal ideas. What if you could see a leaderboard of the coworkers who stress you out the most? A tech worker has cobbled together a project that examines just that, leaning on heart-rate data from his Whoop health-tracking wearable. Pankaj Tanwar, a Bengaluru, India-based tech worker, wrote in posts on LinkedIn and X that he connected his Whoop wristband to his work calendar, pulled per-minute heart-rate data, and matched spikes to meetings and attendees. In the posts, he said he now has "a leaderboard, and I think about it daily." "We were all joking in a meeting about how draining some of them are," Tanwar told Business Insider in an email. "And it hit me, what if I could actually build something that tells me who's stressing me out?" The posts include screenshots with some details masked, including a ranking of people or meetings tied to stress spikes. The screenshot suggested a senior developer had a calming effect on Tanwar, while a growth manager was a "prime suspect" for higher heart rates. When asked if the results surprised him, Tanwar said: "To be honest, not really." Tanwar's experiment lands amid a broader wave of people building quirky, highly specific software tools. Many new entrants have been using AI coding models to quickly produce new apps. Tanwar — who has worked as a software developer, according to his LinkedIn — told Business Insider he used Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 and Claude Opus 4.8 to build his coworker stress app. And he has a taste for other quirky side projects, too. His personal website lists an assortment of other personal software projects, including a tool that tells airplane passengers which side to sit on to avoid getting baked by the sun, a Chrome extension that makes users scream "I'm a loser" before opening social media apps, and an AI bot that likes his mom's Instagram posts. "I've got a ton of dumb fun ideas, some of them actually useful," Tanwar told Business Insider. "I mostly build because my brain finds it funny, and sometimes it ends up solving my own problems." Right now, he says he's building a wearable that will send a small zap if he sits for too long. Read the original article on Business Insider

Europe's deeptech startups are increasingly being asked to do more than build successful businesses. As policymakers focus on strengthening strategic autonomy, securing critical supply chains, and ac...