Skip to main content

Author: admin

Tesla Q3 earnings: Investors looking for updates on robotaxis and AI, with stock up 10% in 2025

The Tesla humanoid robot Optimus
The Tesla humanoid robot Optimus Gen-2 and new electric vehicles on display in a Tesla store in Shanghai, China.

Earnings day is here for Tesla, and the stakes are high.

After a roller coaster ride for the stock in 2025, shares are now up 95% in six months, but even with such a massive gain, that only amounts to a rise of about 10% year-to-date.

Now, investors will get a sense of whether the rally that’s taken hold in the latter half of the year can continue. They’ll be laser-focused on updates on Tesla’s robotaxi rollout, which many on Wall Street see as the justification for the EV maker’s premium valuation.

There will also be questions about the outlook for vehicle sales after Tesla reported deliveries earlier this month that crushed estimates. However, with the federal EV tax credit now off the table, some have wondered if sales will wane in the coming quarters.

Tesla will publish its results shortly after the 4 p.m. ET closing bell, with the analyst call scheduled for 5:30.

The Cybertruck’s waning popularity
A Tesla Cybertruck

It’s worth keeping an eye out for any commentary about the Cybertruck, the distinctive vehicle that has struggled to sell as well as expected.

Tesla sold 5,400 of them in the second quarter — down 62% from the same period last year, according to data from Cox Automotive.

Back in 2023, Musk said Tesla could expand production to 250,000 a year. But just 16,000 Cybertrucks have been sold so far this year.

Investors will want a progress report on the robotaxi launch

Tesla began a limited rollout of its highly anticipated robotaxi service in Austin in June, with safety drivers present in the passengers’ seat, and investors will want a status check on the rollout’s progress and possible expansion.

Musk previously shared plans for the robotaxi service to be in many cities by the end of 2025, and also predicted there would be “millions of Teslas operating fully autonomously in the second half of next year.”

Investors will also want an update on when owners will be able to add their vehicles to the Tesla robotaxi fleet. In Tesla’s last earnings call, Musk said owners would be able to do so “next year.”

Some say the more affordable models don’t do enough to fend off Chinese competition
Tesla model Y on display inside a Tesla store
Tesla Model Y on display inside a Tesla store in Tokyo

Coming without features like Autosteer and rear screens, the high price tags of the more affordable models underwhelmed some commentators.

Andy Palmer, a former Nissan executive often called the “godfather of EVs” told Business Insider the models don’t do enough to fend off competition from China’s EV giants. BYD, whose cheapest model starts at less than $10,000 in China, sold more EVs than Tesla in Europe for the first time in April.

“If you take out the features — and Tesla has taken out an awful lot of features — then that creates a new price point, but that new price point doesn’t make it competitive with the Chinese

Tesla’s new “more affordable” models will likely be a hot topic

Earlier this month, Tesla revealed its long-awaited lower-cost Model Y and also surprised the world by announcing a more affordable version of its Model 3. Both are referred to as the “standard” version of the models and drop a number of features offered in the higher-end models, including the radio and Autosteer.

The Standard version of Tesla’s most popular Model Y will cost $39,990, and the Model 3 Standard costs $36,990.

While customers and investors eagerly awaited the more affordable model’s release, Wall Street analysts largely expressed disappointment at the vehicles’ price points.

“We are relatively disappointed with this launch as the price point is only $5k lower than prior Model 3’s and Y’s,” Tesla bull Dan Ives wrote in a note to investors after the announcement.

Analysts and investors will be looking for an update on Semi and Cybercab production
A view of Tesla Semi-Truck
A view of a Tesla Semi-Truck at Electrify Expo San Francisco on August 24, 2024.

Tesla said in its second-quarter earnings release that the Semi and Cybercab production were both expected to reach volume production in 2026. With just a few months left of 2025, investors will want to know if the EV giant is still headed toward that timeline.

Tesla recalls over 12,900 vehicles

Tesla recalled nearly 13,000 vehicles built this year, due to a defect that regulators said can cause a sudden loss of battery power and increase the risk of a crash. The issue involves 2025 Model 3s and 2026 Model Ys, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration filing on Tuesday.

While many past Tesla recalls were remedied through over-the-air software updates, impacted owners this time around will have to take their vehicle in to replace the part in question, the battery part contactor. The part replacement will be free of charge.

Tesla’s Field Reliability team began investigating identified incidents in August, and as of October 7, it had identified 36 warranty claims and 26 field reports related to the condition, the recall report said. There were no collisions, injuries, or deaths related to the issue.

Cantor says focus will be on near-term catalysts for the stock
A Tesla logo displayed in a store
A Tesla store in Shanghai on October 19, 2025

Andres Sheppard of Cantor Fitzgerald wrote this week that the focus will be on the biggest catalysts for the stock price. Specifically, he cited “several upcoming key material potential near-term catalysts, including: continued rollout of Robotaxi in Texas and California, ramp up of the Model 3/Y standard (lower-cost vehicle), FSD adoption in China and Europe, launch of the cybercab in 2026, and an update on the timeline for its humanoid Optimus Bot.”

Cantor has a $355 price target for the stock, implying downside of about 20% from current levels.

Goldman says watch for 5 big items from tonight’s earnings call

Analysts at Goldman Sachs wrote earlier this month that they’re eyeing a handful of key updates from the carmaker.

  • The outlook for vehicle deliveries
  • Automotive profit margins
  • Progress on robotaxis and full self-driving
  • Growth in its energy business
  • Fresh updates on the Optimus robot

The bank has a price target of $425 a share and a “Neutral” rating on the stock. The analysts said they expect Tesla to deliver 475,000 vehicles this quarter, down slightly from nearly 500,000 delivered in Q3

RBC sets a $500 price target for Tesla stock on “sum-of-the-parts” methodology
Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk will be providing updates for the company’s second-quarter earnings.

Analysts at RBC have a price target of $500 for Tesla stock, representing 12% upside from Wednesday’s price. Their thesis hinges on a “sum-of-the-parts” methodology that values the company on revenues related to all of its business units, with its auto unit ranked lower than things like AI and robots.

The bank’s Tom Narayan upped his Tesla price target after speaking with the company’s management team about production of its humanoid robot, Optimus, which they say has a total addressable market worth $9 trillion.

Morningstar wants updates on Robotaxis and cheaper car models

Morningstar’s Dave Sekera thinks the big updates from the call will be around robotaxis, but news on the company’s cheaper Model 3 and Model Y cars should also be on investors’ radar. The company unveiled the lower-priced versions of its most popular cars earlier in October, and Wall Street is eager to hear if the move has stimulated more demand for Teslas.

Morningstar is relatively bearish on the stock.

“We think generally the market is overestimating the amount and speed of earnings growth here. We think that to some degree, the market is really pricing in Tesla more as an AI stock rather than as an operating company,” Sekera said.

Wedbush says listen for the AI updates
Consumers look at vehicles in a Tesla store
People in a Tesla store in Shanghai on October 19, 2025.

The outlook for car sales is important, but AI is the bigger update that investors should be looking for from this report, Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives said this week.

“We continue to strongly believe the most important chapter in Tesla’s growth story is now beginning with the AI era now here,” Ives said. “It starts with autonomous then robotics as we believe the autonomous valuation is worth $1 trillion alone to the Tesla story over the next few years that will start to get unlocked over the coming months.”

Wedbush has a $600 price target for Tesla stock, representing 37% upside from Wednesday’s price.

Wall Street expects Tesla to report revenue of $26.3 billion, EPS of $.042

THIRD QUARTER

  • Adjusted EPS estimate 54c (Bloomberg Consensus)
  • EPS estimate 42c
  • Revenue estimate $26.36 billion
  • Gross margin estimate 17.2%
  • Operating income estimate $1.65 billion
  • Free cash flow estimate $1.25 billion
  • Capital expenditure estimate $2.84 billion

    YEAR

  • Production estimate 1.72 million
  • Deliveries estimate 1.63 million
  • Capital expenditure estimate $10 billion

Source: Bloomberg

Read the original article on Business Insider

Google trims more managers, this time from its ad section

Sundar Pichai
Google CEO Sundar Pichai
  • Google is flattening management layers in one of its most important business divisions.
  • It’s eliminating a middle management layer in US ad sales, per an internal memo.
  • Google has been reducing managerial roles in an effort to speed up decision-making.

Google is once again stripping back management layers, this time by flattening teams in its core US ad sales unit, Business Insider has learned.

US employees in the Google Customer Solutions (GCS) division were informed last month that several changes to the leadership structure would take effect in January, in a memo sent by its vice president, John Nicoletti.

This latest restructuring shows how even the most profitable corners of Big Tech are moving to run leaner and faster. Google’s ad business, which still accounts for the bulk of its revenue, is flattening management layers to speed up decisions and reduce bureaucracy as growth slows and competition from AI-driven rivals intensifies. In an all-hands meeting in August, Google leaders told staff that the company had reduced the number of managers overseeing small teams by 35% over the previous year.

The changes inside GCS, which serves midsize advertisers, reflect a wider trend across the tech industry: the end of cushy managerial hierarchies in a cost-conscious era.

One change will be to remove the layer of “Managers of Managers,” or MoMs, across several teams, Nicoletti said in the memo, which was reviewed by Business Insider. No layoffs were mentioned in the email, which said the affected employees would move into other roles. The exact number of manager roles being removed could not be learned

“Unlocking our next stage of growth means building our team strategy and structure for the long term,” Nicoletti wrote.

A Google spokesperson confirmed the changes to Business Insider.

“Our teams have continued to make changes to operate more efficiently, remove layers, and better serve our customers,” the spokesperson said.

Nicoletti said the changes in ad sales in January would “Empower our teams, with a focus on agility to accelerate decision-making, and keeping leadership close to the work by simplifying our organizational structure.”

Ad sales is a critical part of Google’s business, and GCS — which focuses on midsize clients — is the central engine. In the September memo to staff, Nicoletti described GCS as “managing a portfolio the size of a Fortune 100 company.”

As part of the upcoming January changes for GCS, Nicoletti said all managers across select teams would become “Heads of business” and report directly to directors with no management layer in between. This would include removing a layer within its mid-market sales group — a role known as account strategy management — that previously stood between account executives and managers, and the heads of business.

He also told staff that Google would reopen account executive roles “to continue investing in capacity for deep customer partnerships.”

“One of the reasons that we’ve been so successful is that we’re outstanding at driving momentum through continuous change,” Nicoletti wrote. “This will be no different.”

Google is not alone in reducing management layers. In recent years, tech giants such as Intel, Amazon, and Microsoft have also flattened their management structures in an effort to become more efficient.

GCS was the only division mentioned in Nicoletti’s memo, but it’s not the only team in ad sales. It also has teams working on Large Customer Sales (LCS), which focus on the biggest and most complex customers.

In January 2024, Google’s chief business officer, Philipp Schindler, told staff that GCS would become the “core channel for scaling growth” as the company pared back teams on LCS.

Have something to share? Contact this reporter via email at hlangley@businessinsider.com or Signal at 628-228-1836. Use a personal email address and a non-work device; here’s our guide to sharing information securely.

Read the original article on Business Insider

The US has now struck 8 boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. Here are all the Navy ships it’s deployed to the region.

venezuela boat attack
The US has struck eight boats so far in what it has called anti-drug efforts in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
  • The US military has recently increased its military presence in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
  • It comes as the Trump administration says it is targeting suspected drug trafficking efforts.
  • The Venezuelan and Colombian presidents have denounced the military move.

The US struck another boat in what it has called anti-drug-trafficking efforts, this time in the Eastern Pacific, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday.

The attack, which killed two people, is now the eighth in a series of deadly strikes on vessels in the Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela and now in the Eastern Pacific. In total, 34 people have been killed in the attacks.

In recent weeks, the US has ramped up its military presence in the Caribbean, deploying US warships and aircraft amid what the Trump administration is calling “an armed conflict” with drug cartels and growing escalations with Venezuela‘s military.

The boats, according to Hegseth and President Donald Trump, were trafficking drugs to the US. The administration has not provided evidence supporting the claims, leading US lawmakers and Venezuelan officials to question the attacks’ legal justification.

In September, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro — who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the US, which he has denied — called the US military buildup “an extravagant, immoral, and bloody threat.” The country has also begun mobilizing troops and enlisting militia members.

More recently, tensions have expanded beyond Venezuelan coasts. Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused the US of murdering a Colombian fisherman during one of the strikes in September and recalled the Colombian ambassador to the US. In response, Trump announced he would increase tariffs and cut aid to the South American country.

Republican senators recently blocked a resolution that would have required the president to seek congressional approval for future strikes in the region.

“Every American should be alarmed that their president has decided he can wage secret wars against anyone he calls an enemy,” said Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, an Army veteran who retired as a major, and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Associated Press reported.

Col. Chris Devine, a senior spokesman for the Department of Defense, told Business Insider in a statement that the deployed warships are part of an effort to support the president’s “directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs), Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), and counter narco-terrorism to defend the homeland.”

From destroyers packed with missiles to ships carrying Marines and aircraft, see 10 US Navy ships that have been deployed in the region.

USS Jason Dunham
USS Jason Dunham

USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109), an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, was in the region as of October 14, a Navy official confirmed to Business Insider.

The 510-foot-long, 9,500-ton destroyer was named after Cpl. Jason Dunham, a 22-year-old Marine who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his selfless actions in a 2004 attack in Iraq. It was built by Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, and was launched in 2009.

The vessel is equipped with a 5-inch/62 caliber naval gun, missile cells able to carry anti-ship and air-defense missiles, torpedo tubes, close-in weapons systems, and other defenses. The vessel can carry a deployed helicopter.

After a nearly nine-month-long deployment to the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, the ship returned to its home port of Mayport, Florida, on June 8.

On August 27, The Washington Post reported that the destroyer was in the Eastern Caribbean.

A week later, two Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets conducted a flyover of the ship as a “show of force” as tensions in the region grew.

USS Gravely
USS gravely

USS Gravely (DDG-107), another Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer built at the Ingalls Shipbuilding shipyard in Mississippi, was also operating in the area as of October 14, a Navy official confirmed.

On March 15, it was deployed to the Pacific coasts near the US southern border and areas of the Caribbean, US Northern Command said. The action followed Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on the US-Mexico border.

The deployment of the Gravely — which previously spent nine months in active combat during the armed conflict with the Houthis in the Red Sea — to the border was unusual, as the region is typically secured by US border authorities and Coast Guard missions.

On August 27, The Washington Post reported that the destroyer was operating in the Eastern Caribbean.

USS Iwo Jima
uss Iwo Jima

USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), an Ingalls-built Wasp-class amphibious assault vessel and helicopter landing deck that serves as the flagship of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, was also operating in the region as of October 14.

The USS Iwo Jima amphibious ready group is composed of two support transport dock ships, the USS San Antonio and USS Fort Lauderdale. Together, they can house up to 4,500 sailors and Marines.

On August 27, The Washington Post reported that the Iwo Jima ARG had departed its home port of Norfolk, Virginia, and was en route to the Caribbean.

On September 29, photos released by the Navy showed the ship carrying the MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor transport craft and AV-8B Harrier II fighters as it traveled.

Local US Virgin Islands outlet The Virgin Island Daily News reported over the weekend that the ship had been spotted in St. Thomas.

USS San Antonio
USS San Antonio

USS San Antonio (LPD-17) is the lead ship of its class and an amphibious transport dock built by what was then Northrop Grumman Ship Systems at the Ingalls yard. It has been in service since 2006, most recently traveling with USS Iwo Jima as part of an amphibious ready group.

The ship can house over 300 sailors and 600 enlisted troops and is designed with certain stealthy features.

A Navy official confirmed to Business Insider that the ship was operating in the Caribbean as of October 14.

USS Fort Lauderdale
USS Fort Lauderdale

The second of two transport docks traveling as part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, the USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28) is an Ingalls-built San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship with capabilities in aiding troop landing operations, among others.

Like the USS San Antonio, the USS Fort Lauderdale can launch hovercraft to assist amphibious operations.

A Navy official confirmed it was operating in the Caribbean as of October 14.

USS Minneapolis-St. Paul – yes
Freedom-class littoral combat ship USS Detroit

Another ship confirmed to be in the region as of October 7 was the USS Minneapolis-St. Paul, a Freedom-class littoral combat ship designed by Lockheed Martin and built at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Wisconsin.

In March, the US Navy announced the ship’s first-ever deployment as it traveled from its home port of Mayport, Florida, to the Caribbean to support US 4th Fleet operations.

It traveled with the “Valkyries” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 50 (HSM-50) Detachment 3, as well as a MH-60R Seahawk helicopter, which would serve as “the ship’s eyes in the sky,” per the Navy’s announcement. The accompanying helicopter’s capabilities include anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, and others.

By May 13, US Southern Command had announced the ship’s “third successful interdiction” in operations targeting suspected drug smuggling in the Caribbean Sea.

“The USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul is delivering decisive blows against transnational criminal organizations,” Rear Adm. Carlos Sardiello, commander of US Naval Forces Southern Command/US 4th Fleet, said in the announcement. “These interdictions send a clear message: We are vigilant, and illicit trafficking will be interdicted to protect our homeland as well as our regional partners from this threat.”

USS Lake Erie
USS Lake Erie

USS Lake Erie (CG-70), a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser built by Bath Iron Works, returned to San Diego from a deployment in the Indo-Pacific region in January.

During its deployment, the ship sailed over 40,000 nautical miles and worked with the embarked Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 35 (HSM-35) Detachment 1 in operations “promoting regional stability and security, and protecting free flow of commerce” in the region, US Pacific Fleet said.

On August 27, The Washington Post reported the cruiser was in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico, and by August 30, the ship had crossed the Panama Canal, entering the Caribbean.

A Navy official confirmed to Business Insider that the ship was operating in the region as of October 14.

USS Sampson
USS Sampson

On June 3, USS Sampson (DDG-102) was deployed to the US Northern Command area of responsibility as part of the Department of Defense’s increased presence along the Southern border, US Fleet Forces Command said.

By June 26, the Arleigh Burke-class (Flight IIA) guided missile destroyer had intercepted a suspected drug trafficking operation in the Eastern Pacific along with the US Coast Guard, US NORTHCOM said.

On August 27, the Washington Post reported that the destroyer was in the Pacific off the coast of Panama.

A Navy official told Business Insider that the ship had since left the Caribbean and been replaced by USS Stockdale.

USS Stockdale
USS Stockdale

USS Stockdale (DDG-106), an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, was deployed to the US Northern Command area of responsibility on April 11, US Pacific Fleet’s Naval Surface Forces said.

The ship has been described by some outlets as the most battle-tested postwar naval vessel, due to its role in the Houthi conflict, which was the largest naval conflict faced by the US since World War II.

It “successfully repelled multiple Iranian-backed Houthi attacks” in the Arabian Peninsula near Yemen in its previous deployment, Naval Surface Forces said. It returned to its home port of San Diego in February.

During the ship’s current deployment, it “will respond to national priorities and a Presidential declaration emphasizing the military’s role in securing US borders,” per the announcement.

In September, USNI News reported that the destroyer was operating in the Eastern Pacific off the coast of Central America, and by September 23, the vessel had traveled across the Panama Canal and was operating in the Caribbean.

A Navy official confirmed to Business Insider that the ship was operating in the region as of October 14.

MV Ocean Trader
Maersk Line

Often called a “ghost ship” due to its lack of naval markings or public tracking, the MV Ocean Trader is designed to go unnoticed while supporting covert operations.

The ship provides barracks and a command center for special operations forces, as well as a helicopter base. It’s described as a Special Warfare Support vessel.

On September 25, Task & Purpose reported that the ship, which resembles a commercial cargo vessel, was operating in the Caribbean.

A Navy official did not comment on the MV Ocean Trader’s operation.

Read the original article on Business Insider

YouTube’s settlement with Trump is helping pay for the White House demolition and ballroom

Construction equipment tear down part of the East Wing of the White House to construct Trump's ballroom
Alphabet is helping pay for President Donald Trump’s plan to build a White House ballroom.
  • Alphabet contributed $22 million to Trump’s White House ballroom project.
  • The contribution is part of a legal settlement after Trump’s YouTube suspension.
  • The ballroom’s total cost is estimated at $250 million, with private funding sources.

Alphabet is helping pay for President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom, according to federal court filings.

As part of a legal settlement reached last month with Trump, Alphabet, which owns YouTube, is contributing $22 million toward Trump’s White House construction plans. Trump sued the tech giant after it suspended his YouTube channel for two years, following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Images showing demolition work on the East Wing to make way for the ballroom have sparked scrutiny this week and renewed the question over who’s paying for the estimated $250 million, 90,000-square-foot addition.

According to court filings in Oakland, California, Alphabet’s contribution, which accounts for roughly 10% of the total projected cost, will be made on Trump’s behalf to the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit entity dedicated to restoring and preserving the National Mall.

“The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly,” Trump said Monday on his social media platform Truth Social.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

This is a developing story.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Reddit drags Perplexity in a new lawsuit, accusing it of building up a $20 billion company off stolen data

Reddit artificial intelligence
Reddit is suing Perplexity and other AI firms, accusing them of bypassing digital guardrails to steal valuable data.
  • Reddit has accused Perplexity and other data scrapers of stealing valuable data.
  • A new lawsuit claims the firms bypassed Reddit’s digital guardrails using Google.
  • Reddit said the companies have been selling its proprietary data to train AI models.

Reddit filed a lawsuit against Perplexity, along with several other data mining companies, accusing them of stealing the social media platform’s valuable data.

Reddit’s lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, said Perplexity and the three other firms it sued — Oxylabs UAB, AWM Proxy, and SerpApi — illegally circumvented Reddit’s digital guardrails by scraping its content through Google’s search engine results.

“These Defendants are similar to would-be bank robbers, who, knowing they cannot get into the bank vault, break into the armored truck carrying the cash instead,” Reddit’s lawsuit alleges.

Reddit said it sent a cease-and-desist letter to Perplexity in May 2024 demanding it stop scraping Reddit data unless it made a deal with the social media company, as Google and OpenAI had done.

Perplexity said it “was not using Reddit content to train any AI models and that it would respect Reddit’s robots.txt,” according to the lawsuit.

But Perplexity’s citations to Reddit increased “forty-fold after Reddit told it to stop,” the lawsuit added.

“Rather than respect Reddit and its users’ rights, what Perplexity has done in response is simply come up with increasingly devious schemes to circumvent Reddit’s security systems and policies,” the lawsuit says.

According to the lawsuit, Perplexity appears to have used at least one of the data scrapers to ingest the platform’s data into its AI models.

“In other words, Perplexity’s business model is effectively to take Reddit’s content from Google search results, feed them into a third party’s LLM, and call it a new product,” the lawsuit says. “While that business model has somehow translated into a $20 billion valuation, it has not resulted in a willingness to pay for what others (including Google) have.”

Perplexity spokesperson Jesse Dwyer said the company “will always fight vigorously for users’ rights to freely and fairly access public knowledge.”

“Our approach remains principled and responsible as we provide factual answers with accurate AI, and we will not tolerate threats against openness and the public interest,” Dwyer said.

A SerpApi representative said the company disagrees with Reddit’s allegations and plans to “vigorously” defend itself in court.

Oxylabs did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Business Insider. AWMProxy, identified in the lawsuit as a former Russian botnet, could not immediately be reached for comment.

A Reddit spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider that the company has spent tens of millions of dollars on anti-scraping systems, which the lawsuit says these companies circumvented.

The lawsuit said Reddit caught Perplexity bypassing its guardrails by setting up a test post that acted as a digital “marked bill.”

The test post could only be viewed by Google’s search engine, the lawsuit said, so Perplexity and other AI companies should not have been able to use it for their models.

The contents of the post soon appeared in Perplexity, indicating that it or another data scraper it worked with had taken the content without permission.

“Within hours, queries to Perplexity’s ‘answer engine’ produced the contents of that test post,” Reddit’s lawsuit says.

Reddit’s lawsuit quotes a social media post from Cloudflare’s CEO comparing Perplexity to “North Korean hackers” for appearing to try to hide its web-crawling activity.

“Some supposedly ‘reputable’ AI companies act more like North Korean hackers,” Matthew Prince wrote on X in August. “Time to name, shame, and hard block them.”

In a statement to Business Insider, Reddit’s chief legal officer Ben Lee said Oxylabs UAB, AWM Proxy, and SerpApi were “textbook examples” of illegal scrapers.

“Scrapers bypass technological protections to steal data, then sell it to clients hungry for training material,” he said. “Reddit is a prime target because it’s one of the largest and most dynamic collections of human conversation ever created.”

Reddit launched in 2005 as an online discussion forum, but is now trying to add value through a new strategy: search traffic. The decision has put Reddit in competition with companies like Perplexity.

“Reddit is one of the few platforms positioned to become a true search destination. We offer something special: a breadth of conversations and knowledge you can’t find anywhere else,” the company said in its Q2 report in July. “Every week, hundreds of millions of people come to Reddit looking for advice, and we’re turning more of that intent into active users of Reddit’s native search.”

Online search traffic has become a profitable industry led by companies like Google, which announced an expanded partnership with Reddit in March 2024 to train its AI models on the platform’s content. On its end, Reddit gained access to Google’s Vertex AI, allowing the platform to add enhanced search and other features. One month later, Reddit went public with a $6.4 billion valuation.

Read the original article on Business Insider

The 10 best and 10 worst cities for retirees in 2025

An aerial view of two people walking on the beach.
  • WalletHub ranked 182 cities to find the best and worst ones for retirees in 2025.
  • Activities, affordability, healthcare, and quality of life were the key measurements in ranking.
  • Cities in Florida excelled, while ones in California struggled with high costs and weak healthcare.

When it’s time to retire, a lot of older adults migrate south for warmer climates, cheaper housing, and lower taxes.

While southern cities like Naples and Fort Lauderdale often dominate as destinations for retirees, the Midwest has emerged as a favorable landing spot — at least, according to WalletHub.

WalletHub looked at 182 cities and ranked the best places for retirees based on four key measures: activities, affordability, healthcare, and quality of life. Each of those four categories was weighted equally, however, other relevant metrics were used inside each category and weighted differently. For example, adjusted cost of living was weighted higher than annual cost of in-home services within the affordability category.

“Rounding out the top 10 are cities that balance affordability, access to quality care, and vibrant lifestyles,” WalletHub writer and analyst Chip Lupo told Business Insider. “These locales all tend to offer a mix of mild weather, strong local economies, and plenty of ways for retirees to stay active and connected.”

Unsurprisingly, Florida accounted for nearly half of the top 10 for best cities, while California took up more than half of the spots for the worst cities to retire in.

“On the flip side, the bottom 10 cities face challenges that make retirement less appealing. San Bernardino, California; Stockton, California; and Rancho Cucamonga, California, rank among the lowest because of their high costs of living and weaker healthcare access,” Lupo said.

Southern cities had a healthy showing in the top 10, but the Midwest also had a diverse selection of cities toward the top.

“Minneapolis, which ranks third, stands out for its strong healthcare system, active senior community, and welcoming job market for older adults,” Lupo said.

Here are the 10 best and 10 worst cities to retire in, according to WalletHub. Median listed home prices are from Realtor.com.

The 10 best cities for retirees
Fort Lauderdale, FL
10. Casper, WY
A scenic view of mountains and water in Casper, Wyoming.
Casper, Wyoming.

Affordability rank: 1

Healthcare rank: 74

Median listing home price: $345,000

9. Madison, WI
The capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin.
Madison, Wisconsin.

Affordability rank: 107

Healthcare rank: 8

Median listing home price: $420,000

8. Cincinnati, OH
The Cincinnati skyline from the Ohio River.
Cincinnati, Ohio.

Affordability rank: 104

Healthcare rank: 50

Median listing home price: $295,000

7. Fort Lauderdale, FL
Aerial View of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Aerial View of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Affordability rank: 79

Healthcare rank: 47

Median listing home price: $599,000

6. Atlanta, GA
Atlanta, Georgia.
Atlanta, Georgia.

Affordability rank: 66

Healthcare rank: 56

Median listing home price: $370,000

5. Tampa, FL
Tampa skyline
Tampa is among the Florida destinations booming with business travelers.

Affordability rank: 45

Healthcare rank: 106

Median listing home price: $469,900

4. Miami, FL
Miami, Florida.
Miami, Florida

Affordability rank: 76

Healthcare rank: 26

Median listing home price: $625,000

3. Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Affordability rank: 96

Healthcare rank: 13

Median listing home price: $329,000

2. Scottsdale, AZ
The desert in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Scottsdale, Arizona.

Affordability rank: 116

Healthcare rank: 40

Median listing home price: $1,100,000

1. Orlando, FL
Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida

Affordability rank: 5

Healthcare rank: 14

Median listing home price: $385,000

The 10 worst cities for retirees
Near the river in Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey.
10. Bridgeport, Connecticut
Downtown Bridgeport, Connecticut, at night.
Bridgeport, Connecticut
  • Affordability rank: 175
  • Healthcare rank: 11
  • Median listing home price: $360,000
9. Salem, Oregon
Salem, Oregon.
Salem, Oregon.
  • Affordability rank: 127
  • Healthcare rank: 146
  • Median listing home price: $485,000
8. Pearl City, Hawaii
Train tracks in Pearl City, Hawaii.
Pearl City, Hawaii.
  • Affordability rank: 180
  • Healthcare rank: 104
  • Median listing home price: $622,000
7. Fontana, California
A neighborhood in Fontana, California
Fontana, California.
  • Affordability rank: 172
  • Healthcare rank: 147
  • Median listing home price: $669,000
6. Fresno, California
Aerial view of Fresno, California.
Fresno, California.
  • Affordability rank: 125
  • Healthcare rank: 144
  • Median listing home price: $410,000
5. Newark, New Jersey
Aerial view of Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
  • Affordability rank: 156
  • Healthcare rank: 134
  • Median listing home price: $419,900
4. Bakersfield, California
The city of Bakersfield, California.
Bakersfield, California.
  • Affordability rank: 113
  • Healthcare rank: 169
  • Median listing home price: $420,000
3. Rancho Cucamonga, California
Aerial view of suburbs in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
Rancho Cucamonga, California.
  • Affordability rank: 163
  • Healthcare rank: 128
  • Median listing home price: $799,000
2. Stockton, California
Aerial views of government buildings in Stockton, California.
Stockton, California.
  • Affordability rank: 133
  • Healthcare rank: 157
  • Median listing home price: $454,900
1. San Bernardino, California
Aerial view of San Bernardino city.
San Bernardino, California.
  • Affordability rank: 157
  • Healthcare rank: 174
  • Median listing home price: $515,000
Read the original article on Business Insider