• England and Norway are facing off in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday.
• British Airways and Norwegian Air Shuttle bet on the match’s outcome earlier this week.
• The loser has to use the winner’s logo on social media for a day.

The most exciting bet ahead of England and Norway’s World Cup quarterfinal match isn’t taking place on DraftKings.

Norwegian Air Shuttle proposed a wager against British Airways in an Instagram post after the matchup was set earlier this week. The challenge would pit Scandinavia’s second-largest airline against the United Kingdom’s flag carrier.

“Hey @british_airways, do you wanna make a bet?👀🇳🇴🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿,” Norwegian Air Shuttle wrote on Instagram. “If Norway wins, you have to switch to our logo on Instagram on Sunday (one day). And vice versa. Deal?”

British Airways accepted the challenge with a cheeky comment.

“Don’t make bets you can’t win 😉,” it replied.

The wager caught the attention of other major airlines. “We’ll be watching with our satay in one hand and signature drink in the other.🍹” Malaysia Airlines wrote in the comments.

“You two fight over the logo,” Austrian Airlines wrote. “We’ll bring the Schnitzel.”

On Friday, the airlines posted a joint video featuring an official handshake and the exchange of logos. “After all the comments, all the banter, and all the speculation, the handshake has officially been delivered at @british_airways HQ🤝 The deal is on,” the post’s caption said.

The two airlines continued to take playful jabs at each other in the days leading up to the match. “Today’s the day @flynorwegian, nervous yet? 👀🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇳🇴,” British Airways wrote.

“just chilling innit xx,” Norwegian Air Shuttle replied.

Eivind Hammer Myhre, a spokesperson for Norwegian, told Business Insider that its social media team came up with the idea to challenge another airline.

“But what wager is fun without risk? And we thought, what’s the most visible thing we can bet? Our logo,” Myhre said. “From there, we created the post, and while we were quite happy with the idea, we would never in a million years have anticipated this kind of reception.”

Myhre said the social media posts have reached tens of millions of people around the world.

“I think the most important thing is that every single comment and feedback has been positive,” he said. “Throughout this, we were a bit worried about the reception at British Airways, but they have been such great sports. This has almost gone from a wager to being a collaboration between two airlines and what seems like the entire internet.”

Still, Myhre couldn’t resist one more jab. “May the best Norwegian team win!” he said.

England and Norway will face off at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday. The quarterfinal match will pit tournament standouts like Harry Kane and Erling Haaland against each other. As of Saturday afternoon, platforms like DraftKings, Polymarket, and Kalshi are predicting England to win.

• Moving to rural Tennessee left my daughter and me feeling isolated.
• It took years of searching before we found a community of local moms.
• Those friendships transformed both my daughter’s childhood and my mental health.

As a native New Yorker, I thought my move to Tennessee was temporary. But I’m a country girl at heart.

Starting over a thousand miles from loved ones is challenging, especially as a new mom aged out of childbearing years. My daughter Violet longed for friends, and I did too. But we couldn’t find any.

I tried going to things even miles away

I joined every mom Facebook group within a hundred miles, driving 50 minutes for mom coffees, hikes, tinker-tots, gymnastics, and play centers.

Coffees and hikes were one-offs; I got lost in the city park looking for tinker-tots, melting down while my daughter happily swung. The play center was great, but families came pre-paired. Gymnastics was amazing but anti-social.

My heart cracked every timeViolet shouted, “Look! Kids!” at our playground, right before they’d leave. Like storytime, everywhere were closed, tight-knit families. One invited us to a creek, but canceled. Like an awkward 4th grader scanning the cafeteria, I kept returning. Every trip North visiting cousins was bittersweet; she loved them so much that I questioned starting a life across the country.

I slowly found community

A flyer on the library’s bulletin board introduced a Friday playgroup, 40 minutes away. Twelve moms awkwardly made small talk while 30 kids ran wild. Violet clung to me. When the playgroup ended two months later, we were just starting to warm up.

Another mom also wanted community, so she reached out. Our smaller group was less overwhelming, and very slowly, organically grew. The kids loved each other. We moms do, too, bonding over stories of new mom fears and the difficulty of finding friends.

Now six families with 12 kids meet four hours multiple times a week — more time than I’ve spent with anyone besides my husband since high-school.

Meeting other moms helped my mental health

Right before Violet’s birth, my husband became disabled, and my mom died. Suddenly transitioning careers, I also navigated the new terrain of motherhood and loss. Denial and newborn demands cushioned me from realizing how alone and frightened I felt. I reached for the phone to call my mother when Violet didn’t latch immediately, or to ask for suggestions for safe bug spray.

After I jumped out of bed at midnight to trim 1-year-old Violet’s tiny nails, convinced she’d scratch her eyes, then an hour later woke her again to change her bedding, sure she’d choke on a nail clipping, my husband gently suggested postpartum depression. I insisted he was wrong.

Finding a community of other moms brought joy and confidence back into my life, and I hadn’t known I’d missed. They gave me a perspective no one else could, helping me relax and enjoy motherhood. Violet sang the names of her friends throughout the day. Another mom said her kids recite their friends’ names in the car, and a third shared her girls say them alongside their bedtime prayers.

Then, the ice storm came. Our Middle Tennessee area was the hardest hit, stuck without power for six days. When my phone reconnected on the third day, I discovered a chain of concerned texts from “The Moms” (as my husband dubbed us). The family closest to us took us in, turning our disaster into a fun sleepover party.

Our relationships deepened as we shared how deeply we appreciated each other — and not just for our kids — and how, from a small library flyer, this mom group had now bettered all our lives.

We support each other

Our ages range from 26 to 43 — but I don’t feel older. We’re from all parts of the country, and include a former engineer and a pandemic nurse. They all plan to homeschool their multiple children. I’m the only mom still working, and with just one child.

The unspoken motto in our group is that different families have different rules, and we support each other. Whenever new moms come to the library, we welcome them.

As birthdays rolled around, Violet eagerly anticipated hers. When we asked what she wanted, she shouted: “Allllll my friends!”

• Meta launched a new AI image generation model, Muse Image, on Tuesday.
• The tool allowed users to generate AI images based on public Instagram posts.
• Following backlash from users and entertainment groups, the feature is no longer available.

It started as a routine product drop. Then it spiraled into a PR nightmare. Now it’s gone.

On Friday, Meta said a new feature that allowed users to generate AI images from public Instagram posts is no longer available. Users learned of the feature on Tuesday when Meta unveiled Muse Image, the first image-generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs. Muse Image is available through Meta AI.

“Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control over whether their public content could be referenced in this way. We’ve heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it’s no longer available,” Meta said in an Instagram blog post.

Other Muse Image features, like the ability to make edits directly on photos, are still available.

Instagram users swiftly rebuked the feature after its rollout. They said it raised privacy concerns and created space for deepfake content. Many users shared advice on how to opt out of the feature on social media sites like X and Reddit.

Privacy advocates like Apar Gupta, the founding director of the Internet Freedom Foundation, criticized Meta in a video posted on X on Friday.

“Just because Meta owns one of the largest social media platforms, and we’re forced to use it, it’s been taking it as an excuse to violate our consent and privacy again and again,” Gupta said.

Entertainment groups also criticized the feature. SAG-AFTRA, a labor union representing about 160,000 entertainment and media professionals, urged its members to opt out of the feature.

In a statement to Business Insider, SAG-AFTRA said that “anything other than a clear and conspicuous OPT-IN for these types of uses of Instagram users’ images is unacceptable, and an utter miscalculation of public sentiment regarding the obvious dangers and harms inherent in such use.”

The union applauded Meta’s decision to reel back the feature. “With the dangers of nonconsensual digital replicas well known to all, a feature that encouraged that behavior is unwise. We appreciate its discontinuance. It is the responsible thing to do,” the union said.

Creative Artists Agency, a talent group representing a slew of A-list stars, also criticized the feature. “No one’s name, image, likeness, voice, or creative work should be used by any third party, including AI models, without clear, documented consent,” the agency said in a statement shared with Variety. “True innovation puts creators first: respecting their rights, protecting their livelihoods, and giving them real control, not handing it over to platforms.”

AI has become a source of tension for entertainers, some of whom worry that it will be used to steal their likeness, voices, or iconic phrases without their consent. Celebrities like Matthew McConaughey and Jeremy Clarkson have registered trademarks to protect their likeness from AI.

Like Meta, OpenAI faced backlash after releasing Sora 2, an AI video-generation platform, in 2025. The platform initially allowed users to create content featuring trademarked characters, drawing ire from entertainment companies such as Studio Ghibli. Although OpenAI secured a partnership with Disney to legally use those characters, Sora 2 shut down in March.

• A version of this story originally appeared in the BI Tech Memo newsletter.
• Sign up for the weekly BI Tech Memo newsletter here.

AI isn’t replacing engineers so much as reshaping who else gets hired.

New data from SignalFire shows software engineers make up 55% of hiring at major tech companies, up from 46% in 2019, even as overall hiring remains below pre-pandemic levels.

Other functions are shrinking faster. While engineer hiring is down 11% since 2019, design hiring is down 48%, product management has fallen 39%, and marketing is down 36%.

The result is a leaner org chart built around technical talent, with fewer specialized support roles.

Sign up for BI’s Tech Memo newsletter here. Reach out to me via email at abarr@businessinsider.com.

Berg Insight estimates that two thirds of electricity customers in the EU27+3 had a smart meter by the end of 2025, with further growth expected through 2031. The next phase of the market will be shaped not only by new deployments, but by replacements and communications technology choices.

Smart metering in Europe is no longer a single deployment story. In some countries, utilities are still working through first large-scale electricity meter rollouts. In others, the discussion has already moved to second-generation devices, upgraded communications networks and the operational lessons learned from earlier programmes.

That split is the most useful lens through which to read Berg Insight’s latest assessment of the European smart metering market. According to the research firm, the EU27+3 region had around 209 million smart electricity meters installed at the end of 2025, equivalent to approximately two thirds of electricity customers. Berg Insight expects the installed base to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.1 percent and reach 85 percent penetration by 2031.

The forecast implies continued volume for meter manufacturers, communications module suppliers and systems integrators, but not a uniform opportunity across Europe. Berg Insight expects more than 131 million smart electricity meters to be deployed in the region during 2025–2031. A significant part of that demand will come from first-generation projects in countries including Germany, the UK, Poland and Greece, while replacement and second-generation activity is set to support shipments in markets such as Spain, France and the Netherlands.

A market split between first deployments and refresh cycles

What makes this forecast distinct from a typical smart metering market update is the clear separation between two different phases of European deployment. Berg Insight says first-generation smart electricity meters are expected to account for 65 percent of cumulative shipment volumes during the forecast period. By 2031, Central and Eastern Europe and Southeastern Europe are expected to account for 76 percent of Europe’s total first-generation shipments.

That matters because a first national rollout is not the same business as a second-generation replacement cycle. Initial deployments often involve large-scale field installation, customer coverage challenges and the establishment of meter data management processes. Second-generation projects, by contrast, tend to build on existing operational platforms and may place more emphasis on interoperability, continuity with installed infrastructure and migration risk.

The practical implication is that suppliers cannot treat Europe as a homogeneous smart metering market. OEMs selling meters into lower-penetration markets may face different cost, coverage and procurement priorities than vendors competing in mature Western European markets where utilities are upgrading established estates. System integrators, similarly, will need to support both greenfield-style deployments and migration projects where utilities are reluctant to disrupt existing back-office and communications architectures.

LPWA gains ground, but PLC remains part of the European architecture

The communications layer is another important part of the story. Berg Insight reports that standalone wireless connectivity options have gained traction and are expected to represent more than 50 percent of annual shipment volumes through most of the forecast period, peaking at about 62 percent in 2028. The firm identifies 3GPP-based LPWA technologies as the main driver of this growth, with shipments of LTE-M and NB-IoT electricity meters forecast to be in the range of 2.4 million to 6.1 million units during 2025–2031.

This does not mean that Europe is moving to a single wireless model. Powerline communications will remain significant, particularly in major countries preparing second-generation rollouts that are expected to build on existing communications platforms. Berg Insight notes that some of these markets may use upgraded or hybrid PLC-based approaches adapted to new requirements, with Italy cited as a comparable example.

The derived lesson for connectivity providers is that smart metering will continue to reward multi-technology strategies. Cellular LPWA offers a standards-based option that can reduce reliance on dedicated utility communications infrastructure in some deployments. PLC, however, retains value where utilities have already invested in it and where replacement programmes must preserve operational continuity. For industrial IoT vendors serving utilities, the opportunity is therefore not simply to replace PLC with cellular, but to help utilities manage mixed estates over long asset lifecycles.

Gas metering adds another layer to the European picture. Berg Insight expects the installed base of smart gas meters in the EU27+3 to increase from nearly 59 million units in 2025 to around 79 million by 2031, equivalent to 48 percent penetration. While smaller than the electricity meter base, this forecast reinforces the broader utility trend: connected metering infrastructure is becoming a long-term operational platform rather than a one-off compliance project.

For enterprises and industrial energy users, broader smart meter penetration should gradually improve the availability of granular consumption data, although the impact will depend on national market rules and utility data access models. For the IoT ecosystem, the more immediate takeaway is commercial and architectural: Europe’s smart metering market remains large, but its growth is becoming more segmented, more regional and more dependent on technology migration choices than the headline penetration figure alone suggests.

The post Europe’s Smart Meter Market Shifts From Rollout Race to Technology Transition appeared first on IoT Business News.

• World Cup host city Philadelphia put on the country’s only free FanFest.
• Planning for the 39-day festival began in 2019 to cement the city’s status as an event-hosting hub.
• We attended on July 2 to experience “soccer Coachella” ourselves.

For the past month, World Cup hospitality has been the name of the game for the City of Brotherly Love. Philadelphia unveiled its 39-day FIFA FanFest on June 11, and a week later on June 19, it saw a record-breaking 250,000 attendees. As of Wednesday, July 8, more than 425,000 fans have attended the event.

The city started planning for the World Cup in 2017, when it began preparing its bid to host, Meg Kane, the CEO of Philadelphia Soccer 2026, told Business Insider. The goal: Position Philly as a bulwark capable of putting on the nation’s most sought-after events.

“I like to lovingly refer to it as ‘soccer Coachella,’ what we’re trying to do,” Kane told Business Insider.

Its FanFest, which goes until July 19, runs alongside other crowd-drawing events in Philadelphia, including the multi-day Wawa Welcome America festival, dozens of semiquincentennial-celebration programs, six World Cup games, and the MLB All-Star Game on July 14. And, unlike other cities’ FanFests, Philly’s is free to attend and runs for over a month straight.

Business Insider attended the festival on July 2, during the Portugal-Croatia game and in 102-degree heat, to find out what it takes to create and stage a festival of this scale. FanFest’s organizers, attendees, and vendors shared about their preparations and experiences navigating soccer fans, FIFA regulations, and weather like sweltering heat, flash floods, and high winds.

Philadelphia began planning its FIFA FanFest in 2020.

Kane said Philadelphia Soccer 2026 has been in talks with the leads of other major events since 2020, when the organization formally submitted its host-city bid alongside 17 other US cities.

When the city won its bid in June 2022, Kane was appointed CEO of Philadelphia Soccer 2026 — the organization responsible for bidding, planning, and executing the city’s FIFA World Cup programming — after previously serving as the co-lead for strategic communications for Pope Francis’ 2015 visit. Since her appointment, she’s spearheaded a yearslong marathon to coordinate fundraising, public safety, and operations for the FanFest.

“In delivering this event, and hopefully doing it in a highly professional, seamless way that puts both our fans and residents at the center of it, we are demonstrating Philadelphia’s capacity to be able to host any and all major events,” Kane said.

On the grassy tree-covered streets of Lemon Hill, soccer fans gathered around projector screens for ‘soccer Coachella.’

At Lemon Hill, the park where the festival is stationed, attendees spread out on blankets and fanned their faces with Michelon Ultra-branded hand fans while watching the big screen.

Kane said Lemon Hill was selected for a variety of factors, including its natural beauty and proximity to the city’s famed Rocky statue at the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s steps.

The festival organizers also collaborated with city officials, the Welcome America Festival planners, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Phillies, who are hosting the MLB All-Star Game, to choose a location that would ensure everyone had space to put on celebrations, Kane said.

Massive fundraising efforts made a free 39-day event — featuring live entertainment, rotating local food vendors, a FIFA store, a mini pitch, and more — possible.

While other host cities sold tickets for their local FanFests, held smaller gatherings, and raised public transit fares to cover World Cup expenses, Philadelphia’s early fundraising efforts allowed its FanFest to remain free and run for 39 days straight, Kane said.

How’d they do it? In 2020, as the city continued to prepare its bid, former host committee chair and Comcast executive David Cohen approached local businesses for private investments, saying they could play a major role in boosting Philly’s global reputation.

“To be successful, we need everyone in the city to be part of the bid in some way,” Cohen said in February 2020 at the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia Mayoral Luncheon. Sponsors, including Comcast, the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, signed on, as did the Philadelphia Eagles, 76ers, and Phillies.

In total, Philadelphia Soccer 2026 raised between $60 million and $65 million in private funds to supplement its estimated $77 million to $82 million in public funding for the event, the organization told Front Office Sports.

Public transit fares remained at $2.90, Airbnb sponsored free rides home from all six games, and the Phlash bus was running.

Kane said that her team wanted to be inclusive of history buffs and soccer fans alike who can enjoy their interests while exploring new-to-them elements of Philly culture.

“We’ve always thought about the FIFA World Cup as not an either-or choice for visitors, fans, and residents. We’ve thought of it as an all-or-both,” Kane told Business Insider.

For example, the city’s longtime Phlash bus — a nonprofit run, seasonal transit program managed that connects 19 monuments from east to west — and tickets run $5 for a full day of access.

I took the Phlash from Market Street in Center City to the art museum, a half-mile walk to the festival. Though the bus was slightly delayed due to July 4-related street closures, the air-conditioned ride was quick and scenic.

Nearly 3,000 volunteers kept Fanfest safe, fun, and friendly.

Volunteers, in their blue and neon green kits, were stationed throughout the festival, ready to assist locals and visitors with directions and recommendations. Some were also at the stadium and top historic sites.

Jack Heely, a volunteer who lives in Montgomery County and drove nearly an hour each way for his nine days working the FanFest, said the opportunity was the culmination of his lifelong love of soccer. He said he started playing at 6. Now 62, Heely found himself cheering on and playing with young attendees on the mini pitch.

“This is a golden opportunity to give something back to a game I have adored and been in love with for that length of time. And it’s a great mingling of cultures to me, and not to drag it in this direction, but it’s proof that we really don’t need politicians to get along as human beings,” Heely told Business Insider.

In the spirit of pintrading, a tradition among soccer fans, Heely made Philly-themed pins featuring the Liberty Bell and skyline, passed them out to kids, and swapped pins with international attendees during his shifts.

Fans traveled from near and far to enjoy the experience, with many returning to relive it.

Many of the FanFest attendees Business Insider interviewed traveled from outside the city to get in on the action.

Ricardo Ramirez, a fan of the Mexican team, said he drove over an hour from Reading, PA, to attend the FanFest. He said he had so much fun during his initial visit that he came back less than a week later.

Others, like Caleb Evans, came from the western suburbs of Philadelphia. Evans, who was at FanFest for his third time, said he was surprised by the turnout for the Mexico-Ecuador game and enjoyed the energy.

This time, he was there to watch Cristiano Ronaldo play for Portugal. “This is probably Ronaldo’s last World Cup, unless he pulls a LeBron James,” Evans said.

Soccer lovers of all ages gathered in circles to practice their ball-handling skills.

Throughout the festival, there were also child-friendly activities like face painting, pickup soccer matches, and skills challenges.

Heely, the volunteer, said the adults got in on the action too when four French men and four Iraqi men met in the beer line and challenged each other to a match.

“We made an exception and let the big guys play four on four, and they posed afterward with their national flags. It was what the World Cup is all about, no pretense or anything. It was the love of one thing. So our sameness is what we celebrate here, not our differences,” Heely said.

Local restaurants doled out cheesesteaks, nachos, churros, pretzels, ice cream, and more.

Stationed at stalls around the festival, local eateries highlighted the range of homegrown and international cuisine the city has to offer.

A spokesperson for Philadelphia Soccer 2026 said they received 200 food-truck vendor applications and approved more than 60 food trucks to participate in a rotating schedule.

Extreme weather, including heat waves and flash floods, required flexibility.

Attendees and event planners had to navigate unexpected Fanfest closures and schedule changes due to high winds, temperatures in the 100s, and thunderstorms.

“Rather than building a single fixed plan, we had to design flexible protocols that could adapt to whatever conditions arose,” a spokesperson for Philadelphia Soccer 2026 told Business Insider.

Preparations included securing tents and structures against the wind, ensuring the grounds could handle heavy rainfall, and installing misting tents and water refill stations, the spokesperson said.

Business Insider also spotted many shady spots throughout Lemon Hill, including lush trees and shaded tents with picnic tables.

For local soccer fans, the event exceeded expectations.

City dwellers living near Lemon Hill took advantage of the nearby experience. Chloe Martins, a soccer fan supporting Portugal, told Business Insider the FanFest crowds were anything but a nuisance.

“Even though we’re not at the actual game, I love seeing everyone in our neighborhood walking around to different bars and restaurants, people coming from the FanFest, and representing their countries,” Martins said. “It’s such a good vibe.”

Kerolos Akraz, who lives in Philly and was at FanFest for the attendance-record-breaking Brazil-Haiti game on June 19, said the event’s liveliness and free entry encouraged him to come a second time despite the heat wave: “I think you get almost the same experience as if you were in a stadium, but for free. So why not?”