Clusterstock

Cathie Wood.

David Swanson/Reuters

• ChatGPT has excited investors' imagination on AI, according to Ark Invest's Cathie Wood. 
• But Tesla and Exact Sciences are poised to become big winners from artificial intelligence, she said. 
• "We believe that the hidden gems that will benefit the most from artificial intelligence are those companies with proprietary datasets."

The rise of ChatGPT has spurred excitement on Wall Street, but don't overlook other innovators in artificial intelligence, said Ark Invest's Cathie Wood. 

In an interview with Yahoo Finance Live on Thursday, Wood said she's pleased to see that ChatGPT has captured the imagination of investors, who mostly have not been buying companies that prioritize innovation. 

She sees AI delivering productivity gains and pointed to Facebook parent Meta Platforms highlighting the technology as a way to drive efficiency.

For its part, ChatGPT has shown a capacity for a range of tasks, such as writing stock stories, layoff emails, and even dating-app messages. And the hype surrounding OpenAI's brainchild has already sent several larger artificial intelligence stocks soaring since ChatGPT's launch on November 30. Even some small-cap AI stocks have seen massive rallies too.

But not all the companies that can capitalize on AI are that obvious, Wood said.

"We believe that the hidden gems that will benefit the most from artificial intelligence are those companies with proprietary datasets," she explained said, highlighting electric vehicle maker Tesla and cancer diagnostics company Exact Sciences.

Tesla has by far the largest collection of real-world driving data, giving it an edge in artificial intelligence and allowing it to lead the pack in autonomous-driving services, Wood said.

"It's also a winner-take-most opportunity," she added. "The company that is able to get an autonomous vehicle from point A to point B the most safely and quickly is going to be the winner. That's going to be the go-to service."

Then there's Exact Sciences, which offers laboratory testing services and screening products for early cancer detection.

It also likely possesses the most data in the oncology molecular diagnostic testing space, Wood said, and it's applying artificial intelligence to that data to help detect cancer in stage 1. 

Exact Sciences is also an example of a company that checks off the three key criteria she has when it comes to artificial intelligence stocks: the most propriety data, the right domain expertise, and AI expertise.

"These are scientists with a deep understanding of biology, AI expertise and data," Wood said. "So those are the kinds of companies we're looking for."

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Michael Saylor is facing a $100 million lawsuit for tax evasion

Marco Bello/Getty Images

• MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor says FTX's downfall helped root out crypto's bad actors. 
• Saylor called for more regulation in the space during an interview with CNBC last week.
• The bitcoin bull says crypto "needs clear guidelines from Congress" and "rules of the road from the SEC."

The cryptocurrency industry is enduring a crisis of confidence as a slew of industry giants like FTX face scandal-ridden collapse. Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange may have wiped out over $8 billion of customer money, though MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor says the meltdown has pushed the space forward in the long run. 

The downfall of Alameda and FTX, Saylor says, shed light on bad actors in the trillion-dollar industry.

"The crypto meltdown was painful in the short term, but it's necessary over the long term for the industry to grow up," Saylor told CNBC on Friday.

Saylor says crypto has brought forth innovative ideas like borderless and inexpensive payment transfers, along with an immutable blockchain.

"This industry has some good ideas like digital currencies and assets moving at the speed of light that are unstoppable and a digital commodity that can't be debased," he said. "And it also has a lot of entrepreneurs that implemented those good ideas in an irresponsible fashion."

Crypto needs clear regulatory framework to hold companies to specific standards and protect customers. 

"What [crypto] needs is adult supervision. It needs the Goldman Sachs' and the Morgan Stanley's and the BlackRock's to come in the industry," he said. "It needs clear guidelines from Congress. It needs clear rules of the road from the SEC."

Saylor is a long-time bitcoin bull, with his software company amassing a pile of 132,500 bitcoins since August 2020.

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From left, Katie Sandoval Clark; Sandoval Clark's husband, Marshall, who holds their oldest daughter; Sandoval Clark's mom, Barbara Clark; and Barbara Clark's husband, Chris, in March 2020.

Courtesy of Barbara Clark

• A mother-daughter duo split the cost of a $1.4 million home and a $325,000 accessory dwelling unit.
• It's let Barbara Clark keep costs down in retirement and helped her daughter live in the Bay Area.
• Katie Sandoval Clark said the arrangement has helped her family "pursue what we really want to do."

When Katie Sandoval Clark, a nonprofit executive, was pregnant with her first child in the summer of 2019, she faced a vexing choice.

The Bay Area native, now 37, could continue to work a not-so-lucrative job she loved: using her law degree to lead development at an organization called Fresh Lifelines for Youth that supports local kids affected by the criminal-justice system. Or she could raise her children near her parents and three brothers in San Jose, a city 50 miles southeast of San Francisco where the typical home sold for $1.18 million in December.

Meanwhile, her mother, Barbara Clark, now 67, was facing her own housing dilemma: She was nearing retirement and looking for a house with a payment within the budget of her fixed income.

So Sandoval Clark came up with a plan. With the equity from her mother's existing home — which eventually sold for $1.3 million — they'd have a down payment for another house. Sandoval Clark and her husband, Marshall, who had earning potential that a retiree didn't, could cover the mortgage payments.

"I thought, what if we worked with them to find a property where we could build a second home, a small unit in the backyard, for us?" Sandoval Clark told Insider. "Then we could have our own space, but we could share the cost."

The mother-daughter duo found the ideal property for Clark and her husband, Chris, blocks away from one of Sandoval Clark's brothers in San Jose. It already had a 1,600-square-foot four-bedroom home on it. Then they built a 1,200-square-foot two-bedroom house in the property's backyard for Sandoval Clark, her husband, and their growing family using Villa, a developer that constructs prefabricated accessory dwelling units, or ADUs.

Sandoval Clark's daughter Sylvie reading a book with her grandfather.

Courtesy of Barbara Clark

The family said that now Clark can help her daughter and her son-in-law with childcare and watch her granddaughters, Sylvie, 2 1/2, and Lila, 11 weeks, grow up.

Building a modern home at a fraction of the cost

Barbara and Chris Clark, 68, bought the main house for $1.4 million, then paid another $325,000 for the Villa home.

On top of the down payment and the ADU costs, the elder couple pays $1,200 in monthly property taxes. Sandoval Clark and her husband pay $3,100 each month, which covers the mortgage.

"We're buying into a stake in the property over time," Sandoval Clark said. "It's something that helps us feel like we actually are gaining some kind of ownership."

Sandoval Clark with members of her family in front of her home, a 1,200-square-foot accessory dwelling unit.

Courtesy of Barbara Clark

The cost to build the ADU was less than the median cost of buying a home in the US in the fourth quarter of 2022, which was $467,700.

Clark and Sandoval Clark said that in a few years they're likely to switch houses: The retirees could downsize, while the young family could graduate to the main house.

The cost of Bay Area housing often pushes natives out

The family members aren't the only ones facing these issues. Many adults who grew up in the Bay Area simply can't afford to stay there.

According to Insider's mortgage calculator, if a homebuyer were to put 5% down on a typical $1.18 million home in San Jose with the 30-year fixed mortgage rate for February 2, their estimated monthly mortgage payment would be $6,786. If the homebuyer followed the conventional thinking that a person shouldn't spend more than 30% of their income on shelter costs, they'd have to make about $272,597 a year in order to afford that.

The inside of another Villa home of about the same size as Sandoval Clark's in 2021. Sandoval Clark said her home has high ceilings and gets a lot of light.

Candy Cheng/Insider

That'd be a stretch even for workers in the tech industry that gives this area of California the nickname Silicon Valley.

For Sandoval Clark, the ADU meant she and her husband didn't have to choose between their careers and raising their kids near family members.

"We'd probably be renting something if it wasn't for this. I would probably not still be in the nonprofit sector. I'd probably be working in a different job," she said. "Our options would be totally different. This has allowed us to pursue what we really want to do."

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Marina Marchese is one of two certified honey sommeliers in the United States.

Marina Marchese

• Marina Marchese is one of two certified honey sommeliers in the US.
• Marchese said the work often involves tasting honey to identify its botanical sources.
• Here's how Marchese found her way to such a unique career, as told to Lakshmi Varanasi.

I've never really understood why no one talks about honey the way they talk about wine or cheese or olive oil. 

There are thousands of different grapes, growing in different places, and each one produces a unique kind of wine. 

The same is true of honey. There are thousands of botanical sources that make so many types of honey that it's hard to even quantify.

In Bulgaria, for example, honey is made out of the coriander flower. In Greece, honey is made from thyme. Just in Italy alone, there are more than 25 types of honey. 

Yet most people in the US are only familiar with "mass market" honey — a generic, blended version with a singular flavor profile. 

My origin story

I came into the world of honey tasting by way of beekeeping.

I visited a honey bee hive for the first time in 1999. Like most people, I was terrified, even though I was wearing full protective gear, a veil, and a hat. Yet I was surprised to see how docile the bees were.

Marchese tending to her honey bee hive.

Marina Marchese

A year later, I started my own hive. At first, it was just a hobby, but soon it turned into a full-fledged career. I began selling my own honey under the brand Red Bee at local farmers' markets. Then I started collecting honey from various botanical sources. I also started making connections with beekeepers across the country by attending conferences. 

The deeper I delved into this realm, the more I wondered why there wasn't a central database that catalogued every variety of honey. I read everything by the US Department of Agriculture. I read everything by Eva Crane, the mathematician who devoted her life to researching bees and bee-keeping. I started going to as many honey shows as I could. 

Eventually, I stumbled upon a program in Italy called The Italian National Register of Experts in the Sensory Analysis of Honey. The goal was to teach the sensory analysis of honey — similar to what exists for the smelling or tasting of wine. 

The program has been operating for 40 years and has three levels. For your final certification, you need to pass a formal exam. There's an oral portion, a written portion, and a blind tasting, where you must identify the botanical source of 18 honeys by smell and taste alone. 

I was the first US citizen to pass through all three rounds of the program. Since then there has been a second, which only underscores the point that there are very few honey sommeliers in the country. 

Smear your glass

These days, my main work revolves around teaching sensory classes, conducting honey tastings, consulting for food and beverage companies that use honey, and working on my third book. From all of that, I earn an income that allows me to live a happy and comfortable life. I often find myself having to say no to a lot of projects. 

Honing the craft takes years of practice, but here's one pointer for those who want to get started on this work — or just want some inside honey-tasting knowledge. 

Unlike wine sommeliers who swirl their glasses before they taste to release a wine's aromas and compounds, we honey sommeliers smear our glasses. Once the honey is evenly spread across the glass take a whiff, then taste. 

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American World War I fighter ace, Frank Luke Jr (1897 - 1918), with his SPAD S.XIII biplane, France, 18th September 1918.

Getty Images

• On Saturday, F-22 pilots shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon floating near South Carolina.
• The pilots went by the callsigns "FRANK01" and "FRANK02," an apparent homage to a WWI hero.
• Frank Luke Jr. was an airman credited with shooting down 14 German balloons during the war.

On Saturday, as F-22 pilots shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon floating near South Carolina, the callsigns of the airmen contained an apparent homage to a WWI hero.

Onlookers cheered as the pilots, identified as "FRANK01" and "FRANK02," circled China's spy balloon near Myrtle Beach as it floated over the Atlantic Ocean, waiting until the object was safely away from civilians on the ground to avoid the risk of falling debris. 

Pilots use callsigns in place of their names when communicating, both for security and identification purposes. The "FRANK" callsigns appear to be a reference to a WWI pilot, Frank Luke, the first airman to receive the Medal of Honor after shooting down over a dozen aircraft, including 10 spy balloons, in just eight days during World War I.

"The military jets using the call sign "FRANK" is significant," Marcus Weisgerber, global business editor for the global security news outlet Defense One, tweeted after the callsigns were identified by an airspace monitoring account. "Frank Luke Jr. was an American fighter ace in World War I better known as the 'Arizona Balloon Buster.' He is credited with shooting down 14 German surveillance balloons."

Luke's achievement in battle was unsurpassed by any other pilot in the war, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine. The brash, young pilot was driven by a desire for glory, the outlet reported — and his name and reputation have survived more than 100 years after his death at the hands of German soldiers.

"I will make myself known or go where most of them do," Air & Space Forces Magazine reported Luke wrote to his sister during his days in the 27th Squadron.

Luke, a second lieutenant, was killed after attempting an unauthorized balloon-hunting mission behind enemy lines. His reputation as a hero was so prolific that, after his death, it was rumored he killed seven additional German soldiers who approached him as he lay dying before succumbing to a lethal machine gun wound.

He was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor for his military victories and bravery. 

"He was the most daring aviator and greatest fighter pilot of the entire war," Captain "Eddie" V. Rickenbacker said of Luke, according to the Air Force. Rickenbacker was the leading Ace while Luke was America's second-ranking Ace in World War I. Ace airmen are credited with shooting down five or more aircraft — and Luke achieved the status in two missions over the course of two days.

Rickenbacker added: "His life is one of the brightest glories of our Air Service."

The Air Force did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

The modern-day balloon surveillance device shot down on Saturday — which Chinese officials acknowledge came from their country, but maintain was a civilian airship "used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes" — had been drifting over the continental United States for five days before it was shot down.

The balloon was spotted in Alaska, over parts of Canada, and in rural Montana near a US nuclear base housing 150 Minuteman ICBMs before floating eastward over Missouri and finally to South Carolina, where it was shot down.

A second Chinese surveillance balloon has been spotted floating over Latin America.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Getty Images

• The United States on Saturday shot down a balloon officials said was a Chinese surveillance device.
• The balloon had been spotted floating over the US and parts of Canada this week.
• Below is a timeline of the balloon's journey over the country and what is known about the device.

The United States on Saturday shot down a balloon spotted floating over the nation and parts of Canada this week that officials said was a Chinese surveillance device.

While China maintains the balloon was a civilian airship "used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes," Pentagon officials say it was "being used by the PRC in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States."

Though the balloon has since been shot down by F22 fighter jets, it captured the country's attention for days with questions of national security and international relations. Below is a timeline of the balloon's journey over the country and what is known about its mission.

On Tuesday, January 31, a massive, high-altitude balloon was spotted over the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.A map of North America with an arrow pointing to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, where the Chinese surveillance balloon was first spotted.

Getty Images

President Joe Biden was briefed on the balloon on Tuesday. He was leaning toward taking down the balloon, NBC reported, but Pentagon officials, citing the risk to civilians on the ground, cautioned him against the move and continued to monitor the situation.

The Biden administration faced criticism from former President Donald Trump and other Republicans calling for the US to shoot down the balloon immediately, but national security experts told Insider that taking immediate action to shoot down the balloon would be "impulsive," 

The balloon was equipped with a "large payload underneath the surveillance component," Pentagon officials say.A balloon flies in the sky over Billings, Montana, on February 1, 2022.

Chase Doak/via REUTERS

While the exact dimensions and features of the balloon are unclear, it was spotted floating at approximately 60,000 feet — well above the range of civilian air traffic, according to the Pentagon.

Brigadier General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement emailed to Insider that the balloon had "a large payload underneath the surveillance component," but noted that it presented "no physical or military threat to people on the ground."

Though there were immediate calls to shoot down the device, officials cautioned that it's not that simple, in part because fighter aircraft aren't designed to target balloons.

When a weather balloon went rogue 25 years ago, two Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 fighter aircraft fired more than 1,000 rounds at it and couldn't shoot it down.

 

On Wednesday, February 1, the balloon made its way across Canada, being spotted in Alberta and Saskatchewan.A map of North America, with arrows pointing to Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, where the Chinese surveillance balloon was seen floating.

Getty Images

The government of Canada on Thursday confirmed the device had been in its airspace and was coordinating with the United States military to track it.

Thursday, February 2 was the first time United States officials acknowledged they were tracking the balloon, which had been sighted floating over Billings, Montana.A map of North America, with arrows pointing to Billings, Montana where the Chinese surveillance balloon was seen floating.

Getty Images

The United States scrambled a team of F22 fighter jets in response to the balloon sightings over rural Montana, near a US nuclear base housing 150 Minuteman ICBMs.

By Friday, February 3, the balloon had made its way across the central United States, being spotted in Kansas City, Missouri.A map of North America, with arrows pointing to Kansas City, Missouri where the Chinese surveillance balloon was seen on Friday

Getty Images

As the balloon made its way across the states, over the state of Missouri, officials acknowledged balloon surveillance has been seen from China before.

"It is not the first time that you've had a balloon of this nature cross over the continental United States," a senior US defense official told reporters on Thursday. "It's happened a handful of other times over the past few years, to include before this administration. It is appearing to hang out for a longer period of time this time around, more persistent than in previous instances, so that would be one distinguishing factor."

At least three balloons were discovered over the US during the Trump administration, AP reported. In 1957, China claimed it shot down what it identified as a "spy balloon," though US Navy called it "a weather experiment that had blown off course," according to the US Naval Institute. 

On Friday, a second balloon was spotted over Latin America, according to Pentagon officials.A map of Central America, with arrows pointing to Costa Rica and Colombia, where a second Chinese surveillance balloon was spotted Friday.

Getty Images

A Department of Defense spokesperson confirmed to Insider that the second balloon was of Chinese origins, but declined to give additional details, such as where the second balloon was spotted.

Intelligencer reported the balloon had been seen floating over Costa Rica on Friday.

On Saturday, Colombian officials confirmed in a statement that the balloon had been seen in its airspace hovering at 55,000 feet. The Colombian Air Force followed the object until it left the country.

It is unclear where the second balloon is currently located.

The first balloon ultimately made it to the Atlantic coast, near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where it was shot down on Saturday, February 4.A map of North America, with arrows pointing to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where the Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down on Saturday.

Getty Images

The balloon was shot down by F22 jets on Saturday after it reached the Atlantic Ocean, near the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

"I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down on Wednesday as soon as possible," Biden said. "They decided that the best time to do that was when it got over water within a 12-mile limit."

Officials are seeking to recover the debris from the wreckage to determine what additional information can be learned from the device. It is unclear what exactly China was searching for with the balloons. 

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Donald Trump looks at falling balloons at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 21, 2016.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

• Republicans are criticizing the Biden administration's response to the Chinese spy balloon.
• "Would Trump have let China fly a spy balloon over our country?" Rep. Jim Jordan tweeted.
• Chinese spy balloons were sighted three times during the Trump administration, US officials said.

A balloon US officials are calling a Chinese surveillance tool spent days flying over the continental United States before it was shot down by an F-22 fighter jet on Saturday. 

Pentagon leaders advised President Joe Biden against immediately shooting the flying orb out of the sky due to safety concerns for civilians as the high-altitude object was large enough to create a large debris field, a senior defense official who spoke on background told reporters Thursday.

The dayslong spectacle saw many Republicans criticize the Biden administration for what they viewed as a slow response to the foreign object, while some conservative leaders and pundits took the opportunity to pick at confidence under the Biden administration in general as they claimed no other leader such as Donald Trump would have let a Chinese spy balloon fly over the US.

"Would Trump have let China fly a spy balloon over our country?" Rep. Jim Jordan wrote on Twitter. "Would Reagan? JFK? Truman? No, no, and no."

—Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) February 3, 2023

 

But senior Pentagon officials said on Saturday that suspected Chinese surveillance balloons crossed into the US at least three times during the Trump administration and once earlier in the Biden administration, the Associated Press reported.

The senior defense official who spoke on background also said "a balloon of this nature" crossed over the continental US before the Biden administration but declined to specify when.

"It's happened a few times in recent years to include before this administration. But beyond that, I'm not going to go into the details," the official said.

It's also unclear if balloons spotted during the Trump administration were shot down. A Pentagon spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Craig Singleton, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the AP that Chinese surveillance balloons were sighted several times in the past five years. Some of them have been spotted near US military bases in Hawaii, he said, though he did not specify when.

Trump on Thursday shared a post on Truth Social from rightwing activist Jack Posobiec, who claimed without evidence that the Pentagon was saying "the quiet part out loud. The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] can send spy balloons over our nuclear silos and we will do nothing."

In a statement to Fox News, Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker claimed that "if press reports are correct, the Biden Administration hoped to hide this incident from the American people."

However, the times when suspected surveillance balloons crossed into the US under the Trump administration were never made public until this past week's incident.

South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott also chimed in and tweeted that "the balloon should have been shot down before it crossed the continental United States, not after," adding that the incident was a "dereliction of Biden's duty."

—Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) February 4, 2023

It's unclear what information the suspected Chinese spy balloon could have gleaned from its various positions. The Montana area the balloon flew over houses the Malmstrom Air Force Base which has intercontinental ballistic missiles.

US officials said the balloon poses little threat in terms of what intelligence it might gather.

The specific dimensions of the device were not disclosed to the public, but one senior official told ABC News that it was estimated to be the size of three buses.

A differing factor in this past week's balloon incident that the senior defense official did acknowledge is the length of time the object has been around.

"It is appearing to hang out for a long period of time this time around, more persistent than in previous instances. So that would be one distinguishing factor," he said.

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A balloon flies in the sky over Billings, Montana, on February 1, 2022.

Chase Doak/via REUTERS

• A massive, high altitude balloon was spotted Tuesday drifting above the United States.
• Pentagon officials on Thursday identified the balloon as a "Chinese surveillance" device.
• On Friday, a second surveillance balloon was identified flying above Latin America.

A second high-altitude Chinese surveillance balloon has been spotted floating in Latin America, as the United States seeks answers about a similar device that was shot down near South Carolina on Saturday.

"We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon," AP reported Brigadier General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said Friday. 

A Department of Defense spokesperson confirmed to Insider that the balloon was of Chinese origins, but declined to give additional details, such as where the second balloon was spotted.

Intelligencer reported the balloon had been seen floating over Costa Rica on Friday.

On Saturday, Colombian officials confirmed in a statement that the balloon had been seen in its airspace hovering at 55,000 feet. The Colombian Air Force followed the object until it left the country. It is unclear where the balloon is currently located.

The first balloon was spotted flying over Alaska and parts of Canada before arriving over the city of Billings, Montana — near Malmstrom Air Force Base, which houses 150 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles. 

Ryder said in a statement emailed to Insider that the balloon moved eastward across the country and had "a large payload underneath the surveillance component," though it presented "no physical or military threat to people on the ground." The device was shot down by a F-22 fighter jet on Saturday, after it reached the Atlantic ocean near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

China has maintained the device floating over the United States was a "civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes," according to an official statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China.

US Pentagon officials have declared both balloons surveillance devices. 

"The fact is we know that it's a surveillance balloon, and I'm not going to be able to be more specific than that," Ryder said in a statement emailed to Insider. "And we do know that the balloon has violated US airspace and international law, which is unacceptable."

These are not the only balloons used as surveillance devices between China and the United States. At least one balloon was discovered over the US during the Trump administration, AP reported. In 1957, China claimed it shot down what it identified as a "spy balloon," though US Navy called it "a weather experiment that had blown off course," according to the US Naval Institute. 

While there has been pressure by some members of Congress, as well as Trump, to shoot down the balloon, officials say it's not that simple, in part because fighter aircraft aren't designed to target balloons.

When a weather balloon went rogue 25 years ago, two Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 fighter aircraft fired more than 1,000 rounds at it and couldn't shoot it down.

Read the original article on Business Insider

A high altitude balloon floats over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023.

Larry Mayer/The Billings Gazette via AP

• The US has taken down a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic.
• The balloon earlier on Saturday had been detected over South Carolina near the Atlantic Ocean.
• An operation is currently underway to recover fragments of the balloon.

The US on Saturday took down a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean, where fragments of the object could possibly be taken in by the government, US officials said.

The balloon, which had spent five days traversing the country at roughly 60,000 feet in the air, was detected over South Carolina as it moved toward the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.

The balloon was taken down by a single air-to-air missile fired by an F22 jet flying at 58,000 feet, Fox News reported. President Joe Biden on Saturday afternoon thanked US aviators for their work in taking down the balloon.

"I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down on Wednesday as soon as possible ... they decided that the best time to do that was when it got over water within a 12-mile limit," the president said. "They successfully took it down and I want to compliment our aviators who did it."

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement Saturday the balloon was  being used by China "in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States."

Videos quickly surfaced online Saturday afternoon, showing the balloon dissipating in the sky.

—Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) February 4, 2023

To prepare for its efforts to take down the balloon, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily closed airspace off in the Carolinas, which included airports in Charleston, South Carolina, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina, until roughly 2:45 p.m. local time on Saturday. The agency had also diverted air traffic away from the region and notified travelers of delays due to the restrictions.

The Coast Guard had also asked mariners to steer clear of the area due to US military actions "that present a significant hazard."

US officials were seeking to obtain as many parts of the balloon as they could before some pieces eventually sink into the Atlantic, per the AP's report. A US official said that the part under the balloon is roughly the size of two to three school buses, while the actual balloon was larger — which has the potential to produce a considerable debris field.

Biden had leaned toward taking down the balloon when he was briefed on the matter on Tuesday, per the report, but Pentagon officials cautioned him against such a move, citing the risk to individuals on the ground.

US military commanders had previously determined that downing the balloon over land "posed an undue risk to people across a wide area due to the size and altitude of the balloon and its surveillance payload," Austin said in his statement. 

Austin also called China's use of the balloon an "unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. 

He added that the downing of the balloon, which also flew over Canadian airspace in recent days, was "taken in coordination, and with the full support, of the Canadian government."

China's Foreign Ministry on Saturday called the US downing of the balloon "clearly an excessive reaction that seriously violates international convention," according to The New York Times.

The ministry insisted that the balloon was a civilian aircraft that had been flown over the US in a "totally accidental" incident. 

"China will resolutely defend the legitimate rights and interests of the enterprise involved, and retains the right to respond further," the statement said.

This story has been updated.

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AP Photo/G-Jun Yam

• The $700 Powerball jackpot — the tenth largest in US history — is up for grabs on Saturday night.
• Winning a giant sum of money can open up a world of possibilities, from a new house to a giant charity donation.
• Here's how some of the revealed winners splashed their cash on when they found out they were rich.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

Millions are asking themselves this question as they vie for the tenth-largest lottery prize in US history – the $700 million Powerball jackpot. The drawing will take place Saturday evening at 10:59 p.m. ET. 

In January, someone snagged the $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot on a ticket purchased in Maine. And last November, a winning ticket for the largest Powerball jackpot was purchased at an auto shop in Altadena, California, for a staggering $2.04 billion prize.

Hitting the jackpot can open a world of possibilities for lottery winners, who may finally be able to buy a new house, find a new job they are passionate about, or create an organization focused on a cause they care for.

However, landing the jackpot can also take a turn for the worst. In fact, many lottery winners end up blowing it all.

Here are the first things 14 different lottery winners splashed their cash on.

John Kutey built a water park.Spray Park is not pictured.

AP Photo/Steve Helber

After cashing in a $319 million Mega Millions jackpot for a share of $28.7 million in 2011, Kutey and his wife Linda decided to donate a portion of the winnings to building a water park in honor of their parents.

They donated $200,000 to construct Spray Park in Green Island, New York, The Albany Times Union reports.

Louise White created a trust and named it after her lucky dessert.Not Stop N Shop.

Getty

In 2012, 81-year-old Louise White of Newport, Rhode Island, bought rainbow sherbet at Stop N Shop just before purchasing a lottery ticket that would end up being worth $336.4 million, ABC News reports.

In honor of the lucky dessert, she created "The Rainbow Sherbert Trust," a trust that would benefit her family.

Bob Erb advocated marijuana legalization.Not Bob Erb.

Thomson Reuters

Canadian pot activist Bob Erb became $25 million richer in 2012 after buying a lottery ticket on the way to his father's funeral in Calgary, The Huffington Post reports.

He'd been buying tickets for 43 years.

The seasonal construction worker planned to continue working and donate his wages to the food bank. He also directed $1 million of his winnings toward 420 Day, an annual event supporting marijuana legalization.

Nigel Willetts traveled the world.

REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

With 13,000,000-to-one odds, pub landlord Nigel Willetts won £1 million in 2014 after accidentally grabbing a £20 bill while buying lottery tickets, he told the Mirror.

He used the accidental winnings to travel the world, starting by treating 13 family members to a vacation in Florida over the holidays.

Jonathan Vargas created a TV show with female wrestlers.

Allison Meade/Youtube

Vargas was just 19 when he won a $35.3 million Powerball in 2008. With his new found funds, he created Wrestlicious, a women's wrestling promotion. "Wrestlicious TakeDown" lasted one season on TV, showing audience members scantily-clad women performing sketch comedy.

CBS News reported that Vargas was looking to create a reality TV show based on the original program, though he did have some regret about how he spent his winnings.

Lara and Roger Griffiths bought their dream home.The Griffiths' home is not pictured.

Theo Wargo / Getty Images

In 2006, the Griffiths used their £1.8 million Lotto winnings to buy their dream home, with a price tag of £670,000, the Daily Mail reports.

They also bought a Porsche and two more properties to rent out, invested in the stock market, and Robert spent £25,000 making a record with his college band.

Unfortunately, six years later, every penny of their fortune was gone.

Sarah Cockings bought breast enlargement surgeries for her sister.

Spencer Platt/Getty

Cockings was a social work student when she won a £3,045,705 ($4.2 million) prize in 2005. "I've got a really close knit family and my win wasn't just for me but also for my family," she said. 

Cockings treated her loved ones by paying for her parents' new house, vacations, and cars, according to the Daily Record. She didn't leave her siblings out of the equation, paying for her sister's breast augmentation. 

Evelyn Adams took her winnings to Atlantic City.

REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus

Against all odds, New Jersey native Evelyn Adams won the lottery in back-to-back years — 1985 and 1986 — for a grand total of $5.4 million, AskMen.com reports.

Feeling lucky, and rightfully so, she took her extra cash to the tables and slot machines in Atlantic City.

She pushed her luck. As of 2016, she was penniless and residing in a trailer park after gambling it all away.

Merle and Patricia Butler invested in advice from financial planners.

Getty

After winning a share of the $656 Mega Millions jackpot in 2012, Illinois-based couple Merle and Patricia Butler were unsure of what to do with their new fortune, but they vowed to be smart about it.

Forbes later reported that they planned to spend the lump sum on advice from their financial planners and attorneys.

Denise and Paul Hardware invested in property.

Getty

The life of this Wales-based couple took quite the turn in 2007 when they won £5 million, ther Mirror reported.

After taking a celebratory cruise, they paid off their mortgage, bought their dream home in Somerset, and then invested in three more properties.

The winnings also allowed them to fund their son's degree from Oxford Brookes University.

Vivian Nicholson treated herself to a perpetual shopping spree.

Shutterstock

The Daily Mail reported that Vivian Nicholson won a fortune in Britain's football pools in 1961: £152,300, or the equivalent of £3 million today.

She immediately ordered dresses from Harrods, bought several luxury cars, and traveled all over the US and Europe.

As of 2016, her closet was filled with haute couture, but her wallet was empty.

George and Beryl Keates gifted it to their family — and the couple still buys lotto tickets.

AP Images

This English couple struck gold in 2012. Despite 14,000,000-to-one odds, they brought home £3.5 million, which they divvied out to family members, the Mirror reported.

"We gave £250,000 to each of our four sons, £10,000 to each of our nine grandchildren and gave some money to our sisters," they told the Mirror.

And they still have some leftover money — some of which goes toward more lottery tickets.

Janite Lee made political donations.South Korean President Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea.

Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

After winning $18 million in 1993, a wigmaker from South Korea used a good portion to support the Democratic Party, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

It turns out she was a bit too charitable — her donations, coupled with gambling and credit-card debt, left her filing for bankruptcy in 2001.

Charlie Lagarde opted for $1,000 a week to fund her photography studies.

Loto Quebec

After winning the lottery on the first and only ticket she had ever bought, Lagarde, newly turned 18, was offered the choice of either a $1 million (£550,000) lump sum or $1,000 (£550) a week for the rest of her life.

She chose the $1,000 a week, and said she wanted to use the money to travel and study photography.

"One of my dreams would be to work for National Geographic," she said, according to the Evening Standard.

Editor's note: This story was first published in January 2016 and has been updated to reflect recent developments. Alison Millington, Kathleen Elkins, and Matthew Michaels contributed to previous versions of this story.

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David Roark/Disney Parks

• A two-night stay at the Star Wars-themed Galactic Starcruiser hotel and attraction typically costs $5,000. 
• New discounts offer up to $700 in savings for two nights.
• Users on Twitter have derided the hotel for its prices and some predicted that eventually something would have to give. 

Disney is making it a little easier to visit a galaxy far, far away, after it slashed prices at its banner Star Wars hotel at Disney World. 

Two nights at the Star Wars-themed Galactic Starcruiser hotel and attraction, which launched last year, typically costs guests $5,000, according to the New York Post. Now, Disney is offering up to $700 in discounts, as it looks to fill beds at the much-lauded spot, according to the Walt Disney World website. 

The hotel was panned after it opened last year, with guests complaining the rooms were little more than windowless bunkers, the New York Post reported. Some media outlets, like CNBC, applauded the hotel for its ability to bring guests into the world of Star Wars, but guests have remained lukewarm. 

Some Twitter users last month predicted upcoming price cuts at the hotel, which charges extra for food, drink and Star Wars-based experiences. 

"Genuinely Disney is going to have to eventually drop that price on galactic starcruiser," one user Tweeted. "Idk why they're fighting it."

—Lucky Girl

The United States on Saturday downed a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America and became the latest flashpoint in tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Associated Press

• The US military shot down a suspected Chines spy balloon on Saturday, February 4, 2023.
• A meteorologist captured a video of jets circling the balloon before shooting it down.
• The Coast Guard asked people to avoid the area of the balloon before the jest shot it down.

The United States military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon on Saturday and was planning to try and collect the debris in the Atlantic Ocean.

Videos posted to social media showed aircraft circling around the balloon before shooting it down.

The Coast Guard had asked mariners to avoid the area of the balloon due to US military actions "that present a significant hazard" before the jets shot the balloon down on Saturday. The Federal Aviation Administration also temporarily shut down airspace along the Carolina coastline and closed airports in Charleston and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina.

Senior defense officials said that an F-22 jet from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia shot the balloon with a single AIM-9X Sidewinder missile, according to Fox News.

China has admitted ownership of the device, but the country's Foreign Ministery said on Friday that it "strayed into the United States due to force majeure."

One video posted by WCNC chief meteorologist, Brad Panovich, shows two jets circling widely around the balloon floating over Myrtle Beach, North Carolina, at around 1:29 p.m. local time on Saturday.

—Brad Panovich (@wxbrad) February 4, 2023

 

In another video posted to Twitter, a person yells "they got it, there it goes." The balloon then appears to dissipate in the sky.

—Jason Sellers (@JasonSellers32) February 4, 2023

 

A Fox News live stream of the balloon caught a more clear picture of the exact moment that the projectiles pierced the balloon. The balloon can be seen floating before quickly dissipating into a puff of gas in the video.

—philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) February 4, 2023

 

Another 45-second clip posted to Twitter shows the approach to the balloon before it's shot down. The balloon then floats to the ground for around 30 seconds while the jets continue in their path.

—Devon Pace (@elitedevon) February 4, 2023

 

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The listing is currently live on apartments.com although the pet policy isn't listed in detail on the property's official website.

apartments.com

• A St. Louis woman discovered a rather odd pet policy regarding fish while apartment hunting.
• The listing emphasizes that "no aggressive breeds" of fish are allowed on the property.
• TikTokers poked fun at the policy and shared similar stories of pet policies and fees.

While searching for an apartment in a new city, one St. Louis woman found an unusual pet policy that included fees and restrictions on dogs, cats — and fish.

In January, Nicole Rose, 30, posted a video to TikTok that features her silently staring at the pet policy for the Kansas City-based Westover at The Crosswalks residences. The listing posted to apartments.com says that pets are allowed under certain restrictions for a fee. 

While a deposit and a monthly fee for a pet dog or cat isn't unusual, Rose called the fee for a fish "beyond insane" and told Insider she'd discovered it during a months-long search for an apartment in the Kansas City area. 

According to the listing, a pet fish is allowed for a one-time fee of $200, and a monthly "pet rent" of $15, but there's strictly "no aggressive breeds" permitted. Rose's post showing the policy garnered over 60,000 views in TikTok and many jokes.

@nicr__ They’re now charging pet rent for fishes? #speachless #landlords #petrent #goldfish #greenscreen #capitalism ♬ original sound - Nic

 

Her fellow TikTokers poked fun at the $200 fee for a fish and the restrictions against potentially aggressive fish breeds.

"just in case the fish rips up the carpet," a user joked.

"no aggressive breeds?? well there goes my plans of an Oscar tank," one comment read. Resource site Aquarium Source describes Oscar fish as aggressive bullies who "will attack and eat any vulnerable fish."

Others shared their own stories of being charged hundreds for one fish as part of a pet policy. One user alleged they claimed their pet shrimp were food to avoid a fee while another said they were charged $150 for a fish that died a week later.

Insider attempted to contact Mac Properties — the owner of Westover at The Crosswalks — for further confirmation on its pet policy, but the company didn't immediately respond. 

Rose told Insider that she took issue with many different fees while apartment hunting. Ultimately, she did find an apartment in Kansas City although it wasn't at Westover at The Crosswalks.

"I think we're all frustrated with how landlords are able to get away with charging insane rents, but then to nickel and dime us for any and everything beyond ridiculous," Rose said.

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Andrew Jackson 'Jack' Whittaker waves as he gets into his rented limousine at Sixth Ave. and 48th St. during a visit to New York City after winning the $314.9 million Powerball jackpot on Christmas day in 2002.

Michael Appleton/NY Daily News via Getty Images

• The Powerball jackpot prize is $700 million ahead of Saturday's drawing, the tenth-largest in US history.
• Lottery players everywhere dream of hitting a multimillion-dollar jackpot with a winning ticket.
• But there's a dark side to coming into a windfall of sudden wealth if you're not careful.

In reality, your chances of winning are slim.Nigel Page and Justine Laycock won Britain's lottery in 2010.

Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Lottery players everywhere dream of hitting the jackpot, as a lucky person did after beating the odds on Friday and winning the $1.35 billion jackpot from a ticket purchased in Maine.

In fact, the idea of striking it rich is enticing enough for Americans to still spend billions of dollars each year on tickets despite the low odds of winning a cash lottery.

In reality, your chance of winning is pretty slim — you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning than you do of winning a Mega Millions or Powerball contest.

But eventually, someone — or some people — will win.

But winning can be life-changing.A man displays his Powerball lottery numbers after buying a ticket at a convenience store in Miami, on November 2, 2022.

Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo

If the winning numbers are listed on your ticket, your next step is to turn it in to the local lottery commission. Winning is understandably a life-changing moment that can cause stress or excitement, which can lead to rash decisions. But there are a bunch of precautions to take before you even turn in your ticket.

Robert Pagliarini, a financial adviser, told Business Insider that taking "a very deep breath" should be the first thing you do if you win a large jackpot, followed by hiring an attorney, a tax specialist, and a financial adviser. "This financial dream team can help you make smart financial decisions and help you plan for the future," Pagliarini said.

Get a financial advisor.Andrew Jackson 'Jack' Whittaker waves as he gets into his rented limousine at Sixth Ave. and 48th St. during a visit to New York City after winning the $314.9 million Powerball jackpot on Christmas day in 2002.

Michael Appleton/NY Daily News via Getty Images

Financial advisors can help you decide whether you want to receive payouts over a certain number of years or collect the price in a lump sum, which is considerably lower than the official jackpot amount.

Another thing to remember is that the jackpot's dollar amount and what you will actually pocket are two very different numbers because the lottery prize money is taxed — the IRS will collect 24% of it. For example, if you scored a $900 million Mega Millions jackpot, you'd have to give $216 million to Uncle Sam.

The last Mega Millions jackpot — $502 million — was won in October 2022, with a $252 million cash payout. 

In 2002, Andrew Jackson Whittaker in West Virginia won a $315 million lottery, but he actually walked away with $114 million after taxes.

 

Sometimes winners have to split the prize money.Americo Lopes exits the courtroom on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 in Elizabeth, N.J. A jury found that Lopes had cheated five co-workers out of their share of a $38.5 million lottery jackpot.

The Star-Ledger, Frances Micklow via AP

Even when you do win in a draw, sometimes others do as well, meaning you have to split the prize. In 2018, 40 lottery players in New Zealand won a jackpot of 1 million New Zealand dollars (or about $655,000 USD). Since they were forced to split it 40 ways, each received only 25,000 New Zealand dollars (or about $16,500 USD).

Other winners have landed themselves in hot water for not splitting the jackpot with colleagues or friends who contributed to the winning ticket purchase.

In 2012, former construction worker Americo Lopes cashed in a $38.5 million lottery ticket in New Jersey without telling his coworkers who had pitched in to buy it. They took him to court, where Lopes was ordered to share the prize money.

Don't get lost in the honeymoon phase.Stay grounded after winning the lottery.

The Good Brigade/Getty Images

Many lottery winners experience what Pagliarini calls "the honeymoon stage of sudden wealth." He wrote in Forbes that winning such a large sum of money is an unsustainable high, and winners should not let the prize money dictate how their lives change.

Avoiding feeling lost "involves exploring what they want their new lives to look like and creating a strategy that uses the money to help them achieve this," Pagliarini said.

Be prepared to say no to leeches.Watch out for people who want to take advantage of your new wealth.

Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

Lottery winners have to be prepared for mooching friends who want to benefit from their newfound wealth.

Sandra Hayes of Missouri split a $246 million jackpot with several co-workers in 2006, but she soon found that certain acquaintances were more interested in her assets than her friendship. She said that when she dined out with her friends, they would belatedly announce that they didn't have enough money to foot the bill.

"These are people who you've loved deep down, and they're turning into vampires trying to suck the life out of me," Hayes said at the time.

When people know you have that much money, you're also in greater danger of being robbed. Whittaker, the 2002 West Virginia lottery winner, said he was robbed of thousands he'd left sitting in his car.

Consider the impacts on your family as well.An electronic lottery display is set to the maximum number at 999 million, despite the Powerball jackpot being at $1.5 billion, at Eastland Food Market in Ontario on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022 where a winning Powerball ticket worth a million dollars was sold.

Watchara Phomicinda/MediaNews Group/The Press-Enterprise via Getty Images

Your winning might also bring out the worst in family members, too.

When Denise Rossi won a $1.3 million jackpot in 1996 she abruptly decided to divorce her husband without telling him about the prize money in order to keep it all to herself.

Her plot backfired three years later, though, when a court ordered her to transfer every penny of her winnings to her ex-husband.

One Pennsylvania man, William Post, won $16.2 million in 1988 and was pursued by a hit man hired by his brother who hoped to inherit a share of the winnings.

Winners have a higher risk of going bankrupt.A foreclosure sign on a home for sale in a residential neighborhood.

LifestyleVisuals/Getty Images

Lotto winners also face an increased risk of bankruptcy. With such a vast amount of credit available to them, winners sometimes opt to make purchases using credit rather than use cash and overspend.

Coming into a substantial amount of money can also mean being thrust into the spotlight. Some states require you to publically announce your winnings. It's likely you might never enjoy anonymity again — which is partly why Pagliarini suggests hiring a financial team to help with the flood of media attention.

And in addition to media attention, you might be bombarded with requests from investors and scammers.

Many lotto winners end up squandering their money.Mega Millions lottery tickets and a wager slip are displayed, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, in Derry, N.H. An estimated $1.1 billion Mega Millions jackpot drawing Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, has people lined up at convenience stores nationwide to buy tickets in longshot hopes of winning a massive prize, but shop and gas station owners selling the tickets also have a chance at a big-figure bonus.

Charles Krupa/AP

Some winners lose big time after hitting the jackpot, even faring worse than they did before.

One winner in Canada, Sharon Tirabassi, spent most of her $10 million jackpot on extravagant homes, cars, designer clothes, parties, vacations, and handouts to family and friends. Within a decade, she was riding the bus again to her part-time job and renting a house.

A Texas man, Billy Bob Harrell Jr., won a $31 million jackpot in 1997. He spent it on things like vacations, homes, and cars, but he also obliged too many money requests. He eventually squandered all his money.

Another winner, Michael Carroll, won a $15 million British jackpot in 2002 but lost it all within five years.

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iStock; Michael Conroy/AP; Jacquelyn Martin, File/AP; Darron Cummings/AP; Michael Conroy/AP; Rebecca Zisser/Insider

• In years past, former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels would have been an ideal GOP Senate candidate.
• But this week, Daniels — opposed by social conservatives — announced that he would skip a campaign.
• Daniels' decision offers a look at the obstacles that the party continues to face headed in 2024.

In the Republican Party of the 1990s and 2000s, former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels would have been seen by most traditional conservatives as an ideal candidate to run for the Senate.

But after Daniels visited Capitol Hill last week, he announced on Tuesday that he would pass on a Senate bid in 2024, which will be an open seat contest due to Republican Sen. Mike Braun's decision to run for governor.

"After what I hope was adequate reflection, I've decided not to become a candidate for the US Senate," Daniels first told Politico in a statement. "With full credit and respect for the institution and those serving in it, I conclude that it's just not the job for me, not the town for me, and not the life I want to live at this point."

While Daniels, 73, won't be going back to Washington anytime soon, the repercussions of his decision will shape the still-fluid GOP Senate field. Rep. Jim Banks is seen as the early frontrunner for the party's nomination, while Gov. Eric Holcomb remains in the mix as a potential candidate.

Once a GOP ideal

Daniels checks off all the boxes of a top-tier GOP figure: former Senate chief of staff for onetime Indiana Republican Sen. Richard Lugar, former Office of Management and Budget director under President George W. Bush, former two-term governor, and the ex-president of Purdue University — one of the most influential research universities in the state.

During Daniels' 2004 gubernatorial bid, the slogan "My Man Mitch" — an old nickname given to him by Bush — was synonymous with his campaign, which was strongly backed by the then-president. And when Daniels ran for reelection in 2008, his nearly 18-point victory coincided with then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's stunning one-point presidential win in the traditionally conservative Hoosier State, a reflection of the governor's strong GOP support and crossover appeal with Independents.

Daniels is in many ways cut from the same cloth as Lugar — who served in the Senate from 1977 to 2013 before his death in 2019 — embracing traditional GOP fiscal conservatism while steering clear of divisive social issues.

His decision that a tough, contested primary was unpleasant, undesirable, or unwinnable points to larger questions: Is there still room in a Republican primary for a candidate like Daniels? And what does Daniels' decision say about the party headed into 2024?

Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels rose through the ranks of Republican politics years before Donald Trump reshaped the party.

AP Photo/Tom Strickland, File

The GOP remains in a 'Trumpified' state

In 2010, when Daniels was eyeing a potential 2012 presidential candidacy, he upset many Republicans when he told The Weekly Standard — the now-defunct conservative magazine — that the next commander-in-chief "would have to call a truce on the so-called social issues" and instead focus on more pressing economic and foreign policy matters.

Daniels — who was succeeded in the governor's mansion by future Vice President Mike Pence — would eventually pass on a presidential bid, citing his family's reluctance to endure such a campaign.

And in January 2013, Daniels would begin a nearly decadelong stretch leading Purdue.

But as the former governor made waves in the halls of academia, Donald Trump burst onto the national political scene, reshaping the Republican Party into one that was less conciliatory and more aggressive in pushing an "America First" philosophy, which disrupted the very international order that had long been embraced by moderates from both parties.

With Trump in office, Indiana Republicans became more powerful — and decidedly more conservative, capturing huge majorities in the state legislature and ousting moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly in the 2018 midterms.

The ascendancy of social conservatives

As an ally of former President Trump and the onetime chairman of the Republican Study Committee, Banks, 43, is emblematic of the huge sway of social conservatives in Indiana.

Michael R. Wolf, a political science professor and department chair at Purdue University Fort Wayne, told Insider that had Daniels joined the race, he would've had to "fend off the young, up-and-coming" candidacy represented by Banks.

"The fact that Banks could have potentially run someone like Mitch Daniels out kind of indicates — at least in a Republican primary — where things are," Wolf said.

The Club for Growth, the influential conservative nonprofit group, last month threw its support behind Banks' Senate campaign, and also launched an ad discouraging Daniels from entering the race. In the ad, the Club for Growth knocks Daniels' time as Bush's OMB director, accusing him of having "caved in to big-spending Republicans" while showing an image of the former president — a reflection of the no-holds-barred stance of conservatives in the Trump era.

And on Wednesday, Trump himself formally endorsed Banks' Senate candidacy.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is a potential candidate in the 2024 Indiana Republican Senate primary.

AP Photo/Michael Conroy

Daniels' decision puts other Republicans on notice

While there is certainly no shortage of eager Republican politicians in Indiana, which Trump won by 16 points in 2020, Daniels' decision to skip the Senate race puts a greater spotlight on a potential candidate like Holcomb.

Conservatives appear poised to coalesce around Banks, who is seen as one of their own and would likely be a solid general election candidate in a state that in recent years has taken on a deeper shade of red.

But Holcomb, who was easily reelected to a second term as governor in 2020, has deep ties to Daniels — serving as an advisor to the then-governor and rising to the position of deputy chief of staff in his administration, while also managing the then-governor's reelection campaign in 2008.

When Holcomb in December was asked by the Indianapolis television station WISH-TV about his political plans, he said that he would remain focused on the current legislative session.

"There'll be time for me to think about the future in the future, but it would be next to irresponsible for me to take my eye off the job that I've got," he told the outlet at the time.

Holcomb has compiled a decidedly pro-business record as governor, but in today's GOP, that just isn't enough to win a primary anymore.

Rep. Victoria Spartz — a native of Ukraine who has raised her national profile over the past year as a critic of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — was mulling a Senate bid but on Friday announced that she wouldn't seek the seat, nor would she run for reelection to the House in 2024.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has emphasized the importance of "candidate quality" in Senate races.

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Indiana could drive the GOP Senate roadmap

Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans anticipated making major gains in Congress, which eventually didn't come to pass.

While the GOP did win back control the House, the party has an incredibly slim majority (222-212) in the lower chamber, as Democratic candidates held their own in swing districts across the country last November. 

And in the most competitive Senate races, Democratic candidates vastly outran President Joe Biden's approval ratings — which for the past year have largely been mired in the low-to-mid 40s — while also picking up a Senate seat, which gave them a 51-49 majority.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky last August spoke of "candidate quality" as he explained the unique dynamics of individual races for the upper chamber — while at the same time downplaying predictions of a huge GOP wave.

Although Indiana is poised to back a GOP candidate like Banks next year, Donnelly in 2012 triumphed over the deeply flawed candidacy of then-State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, an anti-abortion conservative who during a debate spoke of abortion in terms that turned off many swing voters.

"I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen," he said at the time, while arguing that abortions shouldn't be allowed in the case of rape or incest.

Mourdock was one of several Senate candidates over the past two decades who faltered in winnable races for the GOP, something that McConnell would like to avoid again — if at all possible — next year.

Last week, McConnell met with both Banks and Daniels in Washington, with the congressman telling Politico that he had a "good" meeting with the longtime Senate Republican leader.

But with Republicans still in the minority in the Senate and the potential of Trump once again leading the GOP ticket in 2024, McConnell is surely eyeing the dynamics of the Indiana race even closer.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Gary Cameron/Reuters

• A $700 million Powerball jackpot is up for grabs on Saturday night's lottery drawing.
• If the winner takes the prize in cash, they will get $375.7 million, per The Associated Press.
• Even if you don't win the jackpot, there are several ways to emerge victorious and a little richer.

Saturday night's Powerball drawing will put a staggering $700 million jackpot prize on the table in what will be the 10th largest lottery prize in US history. 

If the winner opts for a cash prize, they will take home $375.7 million, according to The Associated Press. They may also decide to be paid over 29 years through an annuity.

The drawing for the hefty prize comes after someone won the $1.35 billion Mega Millions prize in January, and another person won a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot in November. 

But even if the jackpot evaded you thus far, there are several other ways to emerge richer in future games.

For the uninitiated Powerball players who decide to impulsively purchase a ticket, we're here to break down all the possible ways you can win. You know, just in case. 

First, the basics: The Powerball lotto is made up of six total numbers randomly selected three times per week. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. EST, a live drawing is held. All the numbers are printed on white or red balls and placed into an automated machine, which spits out the winning digits.

The first five numbers (white) are between 1 and 69. The final number (red) is called the Powerball. It can be anywhere between 1 and 26. 

When purchasing a ticket, players can select all six numbers themselves or do a "quick pick" and receive a randomly generated set of numbers. Tickets are $2 each, but you can pay an extra $1 at the time of purchase to upgrade your ticket to "Power Play."

The "Power Play" add-on means your cash prize will, at minimum, double if you have a winning ticket for anything other than the grand prize jackpot.

So, what exactly are the winning tickets (aside from the jackpot)? The possible winning tickets and their cash prizes are as follows:

• Match all 5 white numbers only — $1 million
• Match 4 out of 5 white numbers + Powerball — $50,000
• Match 4 white numbers only — $100
• Match 3 white numbers + Powerball — $100
• Match 3 white numbers only — $7
• Match 2 white numbers + Powerball — $7
• Match 1 white number + Powerball — $4
• Powerball only — $4

The "Power Play" bonus is announced at the drawing time and does not apply to the jackpot winnings. If you've matched all five white numbers and selected "Power Play" at the time of your ticket purchase, you will win $2 million (instead of the standard $1 million). For all other prizes, the "Power Play" bonus will either be 2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x your winnings. 

The overall odds of winning any of the prizes starting at $4 is 1 in 24.87. But the chance of walking away with the jackpot is much slimmer: 1 in 292 million. On the off-chance you do take home a lump sum, don't forget to hire a lawyer. Most states give players at least 180 days to come forward. 

Editor's note: This story was first published in January 2016 and has been updated to reflect recent developments.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Duke Blue Devils women's basketball coach

AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

• During a postgame interview on Thursday, Duke University coach Kara Lawson spoke passionately about the team's Sunday game.
• According to Lawson, her players complained about the basketball during the first half of the game against FSU.
• While Lawson alleges it was men's basketball used in the first half, the ACC and FSU concluded otherwise, per ESPN.

The coach of the Duke University women's basketball team expressed her disdain for how an alleged ball mix-up was handled after a Thursday game.

Coach Kara Lawson ended her news conference after Duke's win against the University of Pittsburgh by calling out her issues during a previous game against Florida State. According to Lawson, the Blue Devils and Seminoles spent the first half of Sunday's game playing with a men's basketball. Duke went on to lose the matchup by 13 points, 57-70.

"This would never happen in a men's game. This would never happen," she said at the postgame conference. "It's embarrassing for our sport."

Lawson said her players complained about the ball, making seven shots out of 34 attempts in the first 20 minutes of the game. Their opponents made 10 of their 30 shots in the first half, ESPN reported.

Basketballs used by men in the NBA and at the college-level have a circumference of about 29.5 inches while balls used by the WNBA and women's college teams are 28.5 inches, according to digital sports publication Stack.com. Lawson and her team allege the correct balls were swapped in after Duke assistant coach Winston Gandy alerted officials at halftime.

"To have a game that, at the end of the season, could be the difference between a seed, between a title, my players don't deserve that and neither do their players," she said in the news conference.

Despite her outrage, Atlantic Coast Conference and Florida State officials concluded the ball used during the first half of Sunday's game, which was played in Florida, wasn't a men's basketball.

"Following the thorough and objective review process, there was no evidence found to support the claim," the conference said in a statement, per ESPN. "Per NCAA playing rules, there is no appeal or protest process."

Despite Lawson's concerns about the balls used during the game, she gave Florida State credit for the win.

"Let me be clear: Florida State beat us. They beat us playing with a men's ball in the first half and a women's ball in the second half," Lawson said. "But I can't say if we'd have played with a women's ball in the first half and the second half that we would have won. But they can't say that either."

Duke has a 9-2 record this season in the ACC and is 19-3 overall.

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OpenAI's ChatGPT has taken the internet by storm.

Sopa Images/Getty Images

• ChatGPT has lit up interest in artificial intelligence on the internet and among investors. 
• Insider's Carla Mozée asked OpenAI's buzzy chatbot how to get in on the AI craze. 
• Some mega-cap tech names like Google and ETFs were on its list of ideas. 

ChatGPT – a source for hot stock tips?

That's a stretch, but OpenAI's chatbot has ignited an internet and investing frenzy surrounding artificial intelligence. ChatGPT has accelerated interest in natural-language technology, as the fun-to-use tool displays a human-like ability to perform tasks such as addressing investment questions and writing layoff emails. 

I jumped into ChatGPT and asked two questions about getting exposure to AI through the financial markets. ChatGPT's suggestions included well-known companies such as Microsoft, but it also offered assets that aren't tech behemoths or household names. 

How can I invest in the AI craze?

"There are several ways to invest in AI," ChatGPT answered. "1. Invest in technology companies that are developing AI products or services. 2. Invest in venture capital funds that specialize in AI startups. 3. Invest in AI-related stocks," for starters.

The tool's examples of tech companies working with AI were Microsoft, IBM, and Google's parent Alphabet. For AI-focused companies, Nvidia, Intel and Applied Materials popped up. 

It also suggested AI-focused ETFs including the Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF  and the ARK Innovation ETF, the fund run by high-profile money manager Cathie Wood. 

"Purchase shares of private AI companies," it also responded."This can be done through equity crowdfunding or venture capital firms." 

ChatGPT's charm stems from its natural-language ability, so I asked it:

What companies can I invest in for exposure to natural language processing?

Its response:

1. Amazon (AMZN): Amazon is a leader in natural language processing (NLP), leveraging its AWS platform to provide customers with a suite of NLP solutions, including Amazon Lex, Amazon Comprehend, and Amazon Transcribe.

2. Microsoft (MSFT): Microsoft has a number of different NLP products, including Microsoft Cognitive Services and the Azure Machine Learning platform. (ChatGPT didn't tell me that Microsoft is reportedly a $10 billion investor in OpenAI.) 

3. Google (GOOGL): Google has a variety of NLP products, including Google Cloud Natural Language and Google Cloud Speech-to-Text.

4. IBM (IBM): IBM has a variety of different NLP solutions, including Watson Natural Language Understanding and Watson Discovery.

5. Apple (AAPL): Apple has a variety of NLP solutions, including the Apple Machine Learning platform and the Natural Language Framework.

"The hype surrounding Artificial Intelligence has spilled over into retail investments," Vanda Research, which tracks retail investing activity in more than 9,000 stocks and ETFs, said in a note this week. 

ChatGPT didn't mention C3.ai, but I'll forgive it. C3.ai stock has more than doubled this year, with this week's surge set off after the business AI software maker said it would integrate ChatGPT into its lineup of AI tools. 

For now, you can't invest directly in research lab OpenAI. But I asked ChatGPT anyway: Can I invest in ChatGPT?

"No, ChatGPT is not an investment platform. It is a platform that enables users to earn rewards by simply chatting with bots."

 

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Crewman qualification training students at the Silver Strand beach in Coronado, California in September 2008.

US Navy PO2 Christopher Menzie

• Like other US service branches, the US Navy is struggling to recruit and retain talented sailors.
• Now the Navy is offering experienced Naval Special Warfare sailors with bonuses up to $100,000.

The Navy is taking a proactive approach to retain its special warfare sailors.

With recruitment down, the Navy is trying to retain senior petty officers within the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) community with bonuses of up to $100,000 to select sailors, according to a naval admin (NAVADM) message sent by Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Admiral Richard J. Cheeseman Jr.

On January 10, NAVADMIN 004/23 released the new bonus retention program details for SEAL special warfare operation (026X) and special warfare combatant craft board operator (052X) classifications.

The program "is part of the overarching effort of the Navy to size, shape, and stabilize the force," Cheeseman wrote.

By law, any sailor can receive no more than $300,000 in bonuses over their career.

To be eligible for the retention program, NSW senior enlisted sailors with the O26X or O52X Navy enlisted sailors in paygrades E-7 and above, who have between 20 and 28 years of active service, will be eligible to apply for the NSW Senior Enlisted Retention Bonus (SSRB).

Sailors must be serving on active duty in the Active Component and have the favorable recommendation of the commanding officer (CO) for receipt of NSW SSRB.

Some sailors would be deemed ineligible for the bonus retention program under specific criteria.

Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewman at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia in July 2010.

US Navy/PO2 Matt Daniel

Phase One of the program targets NSW sailors that are E-7s and have between 20 to 24 years of service. O26X/O52X E-7 sailors can earn up to $80,000 in retention bonuses, with $20,000 awarded each year.

Phase Two of the program targets NSW sailors that are E-8s who have between 24 to 26 years of service. They can earn up to $50,000 in retention bonuses, with $25,000 offered each year.

Phase Three of the program targets NSW sailors that are E-9s and have between 26 to 28 years of service. These sailors have the ability to earn up to $100,000 in bonuses, with $25,000 offered each year. Sailors with 27 and 28 years of service can sign a contract for their 29th and 30th years of service.

Sailors may not submit their retirement paperwork while they are still under the SSRB contract. SSRB contracts are for a minimum of two and a maximum of three years. Sailors with receive a lump-sum payment each year on the anniversary date of the retention contract.

"Reenlistments and extensions may be combined to align service dates for the maximum opportunity, up to a reenlistment of 6 years and an extension of up to 12 months," the Navy stated.

Back in August, the Navy addressed shortages in other Military Occupational Specialities by increasing the bonuses for critical jobs. Future sailors and prior service members from the Navy and any of the services are now eligible for enlistment bonuses and loan repayment up to $115,000, according to a message released by Navy Recruiting Command.

"The maximum current enlistment bonus is $50,000, and the maximum loan repayment is $65,000," Rear Adm. Lex Walker, Commander of Navy Recruiting Command, said.

"They are not mutually exclusive, so if a Future Sailor maximizes both, that adds up to a life-altering $115,000 and the opportunity to serve in the world's finest Navy."

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The US Supreme Court building in Washington, DC.

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

• Several Supreme Court justices used their personal emails for work-related communications, per CNN.
• Some printers didn't use security logs, while "burn bags" were also left unattended, per the report.
• After the leak of the Roe draft opinion, the court's security measures have faced intense scrutiny.

Several Supreme Court justices utilized their personal email accounts for work-related communications in lieu of secure servers that were set up to protect such information — well before the Dobbs v. Jackson draft opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade was leaked to the media last year — according to CNN.

Multiple individuals with knowledge of the court's operations told the network of longstanding internal practices that could have threatened its security, contributed to the leak of the draft opinion, and prevented the court from determining who disclosed the Roe document to the public.

In a stunning revelation, the individuals told CNN that Supreme Court employees utilized printers that didn't produce logs, while "burn bags" — which were used to hold documents that would eventually be destroyed — were left unattended in hallways.

"This has been going on for years," a former court employee told the network.

According to the report, the email issue persisted because several justices were slow in shifting to the new technology — and some staffers were anxious about approaching the jurists to take the added security measures, according to one individual who spoke with CNN.

A former court employee told CNN that the justices were "not masters of information security protocol."

In its final report probing the Dobbs draft leak, the court in a statement called the action a "grave assault" on the court's legitimacy, with the Marshal of the Court seeking to craft a strategy to avoid such a scenario moving forward.

The added revelations come as the Supreme Court has hit a major crossroads. It has become a body dominated by right-leaning jurists — with a 6-3 conservative tilt — and in recent years has made several rulings that have not only been unpopular among the general public but have contributed to a sharp decline in confidence of the court among Americans.

The justices have by and large sought to defend the integrity of the court, especially in the aftermath of the overturn of Roe v. Wade last June — which ended nearly 50 years of federal abortion rights.

But the leak of the draft decision has raised even more questions about the court's handling of key internal matters.

The final report last month stated that "it is not possible to determine the identity of any individual who may have disclosed the document or how the draft opinion ended up with Politico." 

And Supreme Court Marshal Gail Curley in the report remarked that the "court's current method of destroying court sensitive documents has vulnerabilities that should be addressed."

However, according to three former employees who spoke with CNN, there were no standard protocols for handling the "burn bags," which hold sensitive documents that are subsequently destroyed.

Per a source with knowledge of the court's security measures, employees can utilize the burn bags which are then taken to the Supreme Court building's basement and then picked up by a shredding company.

While some burn bags were stapled shut, some were just filled to the top and left near desks to be picked up, while others were left unattended in the hallway outside of the chambers, per the CNN report.

The source also told CNN that it would not have been hard for an individual with a clearance to non-public areas of the court to get a hold of sensitive materials.

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