• Taco Bell released the Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza on Thursday.
• It’s the first time a new flavor has been available nationwide in the Mexican Pizza’s 41-year history.
• I thought the new pizza was crispy, delicious, and even better than the original.

Is there a fan base more loyal and dedicated than those who pledge their allegiance to Taco Bell’s Mexican Pizza?

Sure, the Swifties track Taylor’s every Easter egg, and BTS Army has helped the boy band break Guinness World Records, but the Mexican Pizza devotees could still give them a run for their money — especially since they don’t have to spend it on concert tickets.

When Taco Bell removed the Mexican Pizza from its menu in 2020, fans swiftly organized memorials, support groups, and a petition that garnered over 170,000 signatures. Dolly Parton said the chain should bring it back, and Doja Cat wrote a whole rap. Two years later, thanks to their valiant efforts, the Mexican Pizza permanently returned in 2022.

Now, for the first time in its 41-year history, a brand-new flavor is available nationwide.

It can be a dangerous thing to go against such dedicated fans, but I’m prepared to take a stand.

Taco Bell’s new Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza is not only delicious — it’s even better than the original.

Taco Bell is releasing a new Mexican Pizza flavor nationwide for the very first time.

The OG Mexican Pizza includes ground beef and refried beans sandwiched between two tortilla shells, topped with tomatoes, cheese, and pizza sauce.

Its recipe has been tweaked since its 1985 debut — when the pizza still had green peppers and black olives — and variations have been tested in select markets, but this is the first time fans across the US will be able to get their hands on a brand-new flavor of Mexican Pizza.

And this time, it’s all about the chicken.

The Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza fuses two of Taco Bell’s most popular menu items.

The Mexican Pizza may have had its own musical, but Taco Bell’s Cantina Chicken has also made a name for itself since debuting on the chain’s menu in 2024.

Available in a taco, burrito, or quesadilla, the chicken — slow-roasted with garlic, onions, and various chiles — was a hit, especially with Gen Z. Melding it with Taco Bell’s most famous dish felt like the natural next step.

“The Mexican Pizza is iconic for a reason,” said Liz Matthews, Taco Bell’s global chief food innovation officer. “We didn’t want to reinvent it; we wanted to build on it.”

Taco Bell is also capitalizing on Gen Z’s love of sauce. Every Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza will come with the chain’s new Jalapeño Citrus Salsa, designed to complement the Cantina Chicken menu.

The Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza comes loaded with colorful ingredients.

The new pizza — which hit menus on Thursday and will be available for a limited time — features the same crispy tortilla shells as its predecessor, but everything else is different. It’s made with the Cantina Chicken, plus black beans, green chile sauce, and a three-cheese blend.

Shredded purple cabbage and pico de gallo, two ingredients that were introduced with the Cantina Chicken menu, are sprinkled on top.

Adding some safety-cone-orange flair is the Jalapeño Citrus Salsa, made with red jalapeños and guajillo chiles. Each Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza also comes with a packet of Taco Bell’s lime-green Avocado Verde Salsa, introduced with the Cantina Chicken menu and made with green chili peppers, tomatillos, and real avocado pulp.

I topped my pizza with both salsas and took a bite of my first slice.

I was already a big fan of the Cantina Chicken menu, and I think the Mexican Pizza is a perfect vehicle for it. The combination of chicken with purple cabbage and pico de gallo adds a burst of freshness you don’t typically find in Taco Bell’s beef dishes, and the green chile sauce adds tangy depth to each bite.

I was surprised by how much I liked the tortilla shell, which was so satisfyingly crisp — even with so many ingredients on top, it still retained its crunch.

The pizza tasted great with both salsas on top, although I wish the Jalapeño Citrus had just a bit more punch. The flavor was pretty subtle despite the name, but I liked how it lingered on the tongue.

Still, I finished the entire pizza despite testing three other Taco Bell menu items that day — clearly, I was loving it.

I think the Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza is a great upgrade of the original.

Obviously, the Mexican Pizza is iconic for a reason, and I liked it when I tried it for the first time in May 2022, but the refried beans can be overpowering, and there’s never enough pizza sauce. Whenever the Taco Bell cravings hit, I still reached for my usual burrito or Crunchwrap Supreme.

But I will definitely order the Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza again. It’s light and crispy, with a nacho-esque texture that I really enjoyed. You could order it for lunch, on a road trip, or at 2 a.m. The veggies keep it fresh, while the sauce and crunch still make it feel fun and indulgent.

The Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza is my favorite new Taco Bell item this year.

When I interviewed Taylor Montgomery, Taco Bell’s global chief brand officer, at the chain’s first superfan convention back in 2024, he told me that the Mexican Pizza’s return helped “reawaken people’s love for the brand.”

“I think there’s just so much nostalgia with that product,” he said. “It’s kind of like the gateway to Taco Bell was the Mexican Pizza.”

As always, Taco Bell is really paying attention to its fans. In addition to the Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza, this year they’ll be getting Mexican Pizza Empanadas and Strawberry and Cream Mexican Pizza Bites. These ideas are all fun, unexpected, and a little kooky, which is exactly how I’d describe Taco Bell at its best.

Now we just need to send a Cantina Chicken Mexican Pizza to Dolly.

• UC Berkeley Law School is implementing a stricter AI policy.
• The general policy is that students can no longer use AI for activities such as brainstorming.
• UC Berkeley Law School professor Chris Hoofnagle said it’s about making sure students learn fundamental skills.

UC Berkeley Law School’s stricter AI policy forbids students from using it for things like brainstorming, but a professor who helped write the new rules says the school doesn’t want to outright ban the tech.

“Our policy is about developing students with the fundamental skills required for AI lawyering,” UC Berkeley Law School professor Chris Hoofnagle told Business Insider.

Hoofnagle said the school recognized that its 2023 AI use policy was “too liberal” in allowing students to use AI, especially given advancements in generative AI models since then.

“It can, in effect, write a research paper soup to nuts,” Hoofnagle said. “So, the increasing capability of LLMs required us to rethink students’ reliance on them.”

UC Berkeley Law School’s new policy, which will go into effect this summer, does not allow students to use AI for conceptualizing, outlining, drafting, revising, editing, translating, or for any purpose in an exam situation. The 2023 policy allowed for AI use for brainstorming, such as asking a chatbot to help come up with a paper topic, and conceptualization.

Hoofnagle said the new policy was approved by a faculty vote, though instructors can deviate from it. He also said particular AI-focused courses will follow different standards.

The goal, Hoofnagle said, is to ensure that first-year law students are learning the fundamentals of being a lawyer, including “how to read a case, analyze a case, and write about it cogently.”

“Of course, the question becomes, what is the value add of the lawyer?” he said. “And if that lawyer cannot use their own analytical judgment to assess an AI output, that lawyer has very little value. And so, this is what our policy is about.”

Overall, Hoofnagle said the expectation and demand from law firms is that students graduate with a proficiency in using AI.

“Students are asking for these courses, and they’re learning during their summers that law firms already extensively use AI,” he said.

Startups like Harvey and Legora are fiercely competing for the estimated $1 trillion global legal market. Harvey has sought to expand its presence by offering free access to law schools. Stanford Law School, which Hoofnagle said had a stricter AI policy when Berkeley rolled out its initial one in 2023, is part of Harvey’s law school alliance program.

Hoofnagle concedes the policy has loopholes. After all, policing AI is becoming a Sisyphean task in a world where search engines are adding AI overlays to ensure their continued relevance. He said that even standard searches on Lexis and Westlaw now have an LLM-generated summary.

“There is no kind of clean answer for it,” he said, adding, the school “obviously can’t ban search.”

Schools are trying to keep up

Law schools and undergraduate universities are alike in trying to stay ahead of the wave of AI advancements and the challenges that accompany them.

Princeton recently announced the most significant change to its honor code in 133 years, The Daily Princetonian reported. As of July 1, all in-person examinations will be proctored. The advent of AI was cited as one of the reasons for the change.

Hoofnagle said that Berkeley law has seen an “uptick” in misconduct cases and has converted more take-home exams to in-person as a result. The in-person exams are conducted on a computer with specialized software that prevents access to the internet and the use of copy-and-paste functions. Despite the precautions, he said it is still possible to cheat.

“You can’t protect against everything in the world, but there’s a really strong signal that if you cut corners, ultimately the student will pay for it when they have to take an in-person exam,” he said.

• As a trained chef, I believe the key to cooking a great meal is following the kitchen basics.
• Resting protein at room temperature before and after cooking it improves the texture and flavor.
• Without properly preheating a pan or oven, a dish is doomed before it ever hits heat.

Most cooking disasters don’t result from botching fancy techniques, and I say that as someone who graduated from a top Parisian culinary institute and has over 30 years of professional cooking experience.

In truth, it’s small, inconspicuous habits that sabotage most dishes.

I believe that excellent cooking isn’t about mastering complicated techniques or buying expensive ingredients. It’s about paying attention to kitchen fundamentals and respecting the cooking process.

Fixing these common missteps, which I see repeatedly from cooks of all levels, can make a noticeable difference in foods’ flavor and texture.

Applying heat to protein too soon can cause it to cook unevenly.

Taking protein straight from the refrigerator and throwing it into a hot pan is one of the fastest ways to cook it unevenly. The exterior cooks at a faster rate than the interior, so it’s overdone by the time the center is cooked.

I let meat or fish sit at room temperature before I cook it for a more even result. Exact timing depends on the protein — fish fillets usually only need 15 minutes, whereas thick pieces of chicken breasts, pork chops, or steaks benefit from 30 minutes to an hour on the counter.

I stick to this rule regardless of whether I cook the protein in my sauté pan, griddle, or grill. It’s become somewhat second nature.

Whenever I make a thick ribeye steak or a side of salmon for guests, I make a mental note to start the cooking process by pulling the meat or fish out of the refrigerator before prepping everything else.

Salting fish or meat before it reaches room temperature can mess with its texture.

I wait to season my protein until it’s had a chance to sit at room temperature, especially if I use salt.

If I salt steaks or fish too early, for example, it can draw moisture to the surface and interfere with browning.

I let the protein lose its chill first, pat it dry, and then season it right before it hits the pan, grill, or oven for optimal sear and texture.

A pan that isn’t properly preheated won’t sear food.

This tip is a practice in patience. A pan that isn’t fully preheated will slowly cook your food into a pale, sad version of what it could be, and the same goes for an oven that hasn’t reached temperature.

Preheating isn’t a suggestion — it’s part of the cooking process. An under-heated pan won’t sear your food, but an overheated pan can burn the outside of food before the inside has time to cook, especially with delicate proteins like fish.

I like to give my pan a couple of minutes over medium-high heat before adding oil, keeping close tabs on the pan’s temperature using a laser thermometer gun.

If I’m cooking with my oven, I wait until it’s reached the desired temperature — which I check with an oven thermometer — rather than when it beeps.

Chopping, slicing, and dicing with dull knives can ruin the entire cooking process.

A dull knife does a cook no favors. It crushes herbs instead of slicing them, tears through proteins, and makes even simple prep feel like a chore. It can also be dangerous, as it requires more force and can easily lead to a loss of control.

A sharp knife glides, creates clean cuts, and makes everything from chopping onions to slicing steak faster and more precise. It’s a nonnegotiable in every kitchen, and I always recommend cooks invest in a knife sharpener.

If cared for properly, a good knife should last a long time. I’ve used the same ones in my home kitchen for years because I diligently maintain them.

Using a honing steel regularly helps keep the edge aligned so the knife stays sharp for longer. That said, most recreational home cooks only need to sharpen a quality chef’s knife once a year.

Waiting to taste food until after it’s fully cooked makes some mistakes irreversible.

I taste my food throughout the cooking process, as I build seasoning over time.

Once it touches my tongue, I know whether the dish needs salt, acid, or balance before it’s too late to adjust. Once it’s already reduced, thickened, or finished cooking, it’s harder to make adjustments.

For example, if I realize a soup or pasta sauce lacks seasoning once it’s done, adding more salt might help, but the flavor might taste flat since the seasoning didn’t fully cook in the dish.

I usually taste my dishes at every step that alters the flavor — after seasoning, reducing, adding acid, or combining the ingredients — to maintain control over the final result.

Cutting into protein too soon after cooking is one of the most overlooked errors.

Few things irk me more than seeing someone slice into a beautiful piece of chicken, steak, or fish too soon. When I watch all the juices run out onto the cutting board, all I see is lost flavor.

Meat continues cooking even after you remove it from heat. Called carryover cooking, it happens because the residual heat from the outside continues moving inward as the protein rests.

For example, a steak I take off the grill at 130 degrees Fahrenheit can climb to 135 degrees Fahrenheit within a few minutes of resting at room temperature.

I remove meats from the heat source when they’re a few degrees shy of my desired temperature, as the carryover heat can raise the internal temperature.

When a protein rests, it allows the juices to redistribute and the carryover heat to gently finish cooking it. Skipping this step can cause dry out even perfectly cooked meat.

• President Donald Trump was expected to sign an executive order on AI oversight this week, but the event was postponed.
• “I didn’t like certain aspects of it,” Trump said, adding that he worried the order might slow US efforts to beat China in AI.
• A draft of the unsigned executive order, obtained by POLITICO, emphasizes that government AI reviews would be voluntary.

POLITICO has obtained a draft of the executive order on artificial intelligence that President Donald Trump had been expected to sign Thursday afternoon, only to abruptly postpone the event.

The document — available here — was meant to address concerns that advanced AI products from companies such as Anthropic could unleash devastating cyberattacks and wreak other havoc if they fell into the wrong hands. It called for creating a voluntary oversight system in which developers of advanced AI models could submit their products to a review by federal agencies as much as 90 days before releasing them, POLITICO previously reported.

Among other details, the seven-page draft emphasizes that the government AI reviews would be voluntary: “Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the creation of a mandatory governmental licensing, preclearance, or permitting requirement for the development, publication, release, or distribution of new AI models, including frontier models.”

Despite such assurances, former Trump AI czar David Sacks raised concerns that the voluntary reviews may one day become mandatory, a senior White House official told POLITICO on Thursday.

The draft also includes language aimed at bad actors. It directs the attorney general to enforce the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and “other applicable Federal criminal laws against anyone who utilizes AI to illegally access or damage a computer without authorization, or who utilizes AI while engaged in such illegal access to further any other crime.”

Administration officials had briefed major tech companies about the order’s contents this week, and top AI industry executives had been invited to attend a Thursday signing ceremony at the White House.

But Trump told reporters he hit the brakes.

“I didn’t like certain aspects of it,” the president said, adding that he worried the order might slow U.S. efforts to beat China in the race to dominate AI.

The administration has not said what changes might be made in the order or when the signing might be rescheduled.

Jacob Wendler contributed to this report.

This story originally ran in POLITICO and appears on Business Insider through the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network. The network publishes major stories from the Axel Springer network of publications, a worldwide group of news outlets that includes Business Insider.

• I often praised my children to others instead of to them directly.
• My upbringing made it hard for me to express encouragement openly.
• A painful conversation with my son changed how I parent adult kids.

Several years ago, while driving behind a car with a “my-child-is-an-honor-student” bumper sticker, I said to my oldest son, sitting in the passenger seat, “I always wanted one of those.”

He, then a college student, replied, “Why? It doesn’t mean anything.”

He was right. In the greater scheme of things, achieving honor roll in elementary or middle school is not a significant accomplishment. Nor is it a predictor of future success. Even so, I still wanted one!

None of my five children was an academic superstar. They rarely achieved honor roll for more than one quarter of any school year, and none was named to the Dean’s List in college. Nevertheless, I’ve always been exceedingly proud of each one. In fact, I’m constantly singing their praises to anyone who’ll listen.

The problem is, I rarely commend them directly.

My parents did not praise me

Maybe that’s because my parents were not generous with praise. Their generation was not hardwired for affirmation, so I did not learn from experience how formative praise is.

I was a well-behaved kid, a decent student, and a pretty compliant daughter. I didn’t need positive reinforcement to motivate me, although it would have been nice to receive some occasionally.

Growing up in the mid-20^th century, the expectation for most girls like me was to earn an MRS, not an MBA. So, when in my senior year of high school, I was accepted into all five colleges I applied to, my parents were not over the moon with excitement.

The day the fifth acceptance letter arrived from my first-choice school, I couldn’t wait to share the news with my dad. I’d hoped he’d be as happy as I was. If he was, he didn’t show it, and to this day, I still feel disappointed that he didn’t give me a big hug and tell me he was proud.

It shouldn’t be so hard to say ‘well done’

I was effusive with praise when my kids were small. We celebrated each milestone from learning to use the toilet to tying their shoes to riding a bike. But as they’ve grown, I’ve been a much quieter cheerleader.

The year my third son’s Little League team won the championship I consoled him when he struck out but did not high-five him for hitting the line drive that clinched the series. When another son sang a solo during a school concert that was so beautiful it silenced the audience, I was too stunned to tell him he’d done an amazing job.

Now that they’re adults, each of my children is achieving great things. One’s an artist in high demand. Another’s a photographer whose work is published internationally. My youngest son, a UX designer, was recruited by a top tech company halfway through his junior year of college. My second son, who works in finance, created a unique investment vehicle that has launched his career into the stratosphere.

Each of their successes is extraordinary, which is all the more reason I should tell them I’m proud.

My kids want to know I’m proud of them

Of course, I’m more than willing to tell friends, colleagues, and even mere acquaintances about all my kids accomplish. I post to Zoom chats and populate Slack channels with proud mama moments all the time. I share links to the Google alerts I’ve set up and forward their Reels from Instagram. I’m constantly sending photos in group chats, but I rarely send them texts to say how thrilled I am for them.

I’m trying to figure out why I’m so reluctant. Maybe it’s because I’m overwhelmed by their success. Where did the talent come from? Certainly not from me. Regardless, as their mother, I should congratulate them for all they’re doing.

I didn’t realize just how important that is until my third son confronted me with an email I’d written years before about a photo essay he’d published. Instead of complimenting his work, I critiqued the composition. He was devastated by my comments. He’d worked hard on the project and had hoped I would recognize its value. Instead, I wrote about its flaws.

When he read my words back to me, I was shocked. Not only did I not remember writing them, but I also had a hard time figuring out why I was so negative. I was ashamed I’d hurt him. At that moment, I realized no matter their age, my kids want my praise. Since then, I’ve been working really hard to tell each one just how proud of them I truly am.

They’re extraordinary people, and they should hear that often from their mother.

• The newly public SpaceX S-1 reveals how closely Elon Musk’s companies are connected.
• Last year, SpaceX was involved in more than $660 million worth of payments, goods, and services with the ventures.
• Here’s a look at how SpaceX is intertwined with Tesla, The Boring Company, and more.

Step right up to Elon Musk’s financial merry-go-round.

Tucked more than 200 pages into SpaceX’s S-1 paperwork, which the company filed on Wednesday, is an outline of how interconnected Musk’s various companies are, including through more than $660 million in payments, goods, and services involving SpaceX and his other ventures last year.

Musk has his hands in many pots. In addition to being the CEO of aerospace company SpaceX, he’s the CEO (and “Technoking”) of electric carmaker Tesla, the founder of tunneling business The Boring Company, the cofounder of brain chip firm Neuralink, and was the CEO of xAI, until it merged with SpaceX in February. In various ways, the companies are all intermingled.

SpaceX said in the filing that there may be “conflicts of interest,” but ultimately, they benefit investors.

It’s not uncommon for companies with certain ties to do business with one another and to spell out these relationships in a prospectus filing when they plan to go public. The breakdown in SpaceX’s S-1 is the first look we’re getting at some of its connections, including SpaceX’s deals with The Boring Company or its purchase of Tesla Cybertrucks.

The biggest expenses between the companies fell under the banner of “commercial, licensing, and support.”

Last year, SpaceX paid Tesla $144 million under such agreements, a figure significantly higher than in years past. xAI, then a separate entity, spent more, paying Tesla $506 million last year. xAI, then a separate entity, spent more, paying Tesla $506 million last year, while also bringing in $2 millon in revenue from Tesla.

The majority of SpaceX’s cumulative $650 million in spending with Tesla was for Megapack products, Tesla’s battery storage system. SpaceX also bought $131 million worth of Cybertrucks, which, at a starting retail price of $69,990 a pop, would be as many as 1,871 vehicles.

Additionally, Tesla paid $4 million last year to advertise on X.

Some expenses were driven by pure practicality: Tesla paid SpaceX $2 million to use its aircraft, X leased office space from The Boring Company for $1 million, and xAI rented space from the billionaire’s umbrella company, Musk Industries LLC, for $2 million last year. SpaceX also spent $4 million on a security company owned by Musk for his personal security, as Tesla has done, per its filings.

Other expenses were mind-scratchers. SpaceX paid The Boring Company $1 million in connection with the construction of tunnels in Bastrop, Texas. These could be the tunnels connecting his facilities reported by local outlets, or they could be related to the chip facility SpaceX is building there.

Tesla and SpaceX’s relationship is more than transactional

Musk’s companies plan to continue doing business together, particularly Tesla and SpaceX, which, the company said, have a “strong and constructive partnership.”

Tesla owns nearly 19 million shares of SpaceX stock. While that represents less than 1% of the company, at a target valuation of $1.5 trillion, those shares would be worth about $4.1 billion.

SpaceX and Tesla also have major projects in the works. The pair is developing Macrohard, an agentic AI platform, and, along with Intel, has partnered on Terafab, a manufacturing initiative that creates chips for Tesla’s robots and vehicles, as well as SpaceX’s orbital compute infrastructure.

The projects are set to be the beginning of a long relationship.

“We plan to explore other areas of strategic collaboration with Tesla in the future,” the document says.