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• A US Navy warship fired missiles at two American F/A-18 fighter jets above the Red Sea last year.
• The warship mistook the fighter jets for Houthi cruise missiles, the investigation shows.
• One of the fighter jets was shot down. The other barely survived the friendly fire incident.

A US Navy pilot whose jet was mistakenly shot down by an American warship over the Red Sea told investigators he saw his life flash before his eyes before ejecting from the doomed aircraft.

The command investigation into the late December 2024 friendly fire incident, which Business Insider reviewed prior to its release on Thursday, reveals that the warship’s crew mistook two Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets for anti-ship cruise missiles fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

In a catastrophic failure, the cruiser USS Gettysburg launched surface-to-air missiles at both F/A-18s, shooting down one and nearly hitting the second. It also targeted a third friendly aircraft but never pulled the trigger.

A hit and a near-miss

The Gettysburg and the other warships in the strike group led by the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman deployed in September 2024 and entered the Red Sea three months later to take over Navy combat operations against the Iran-backed Houthis, who had for almost a year at that point been attacking key shipping lanes.

Early on December 22, just seven days after entering the Red Sea, the Gettysburg accidentally shot down a Super Hornet from the Truman’s air wing in what the US military described as “an apparent case of friendly fire.” Both aviators, the pilot and the weapons officer, ejected safely from the roughly $60 million fighter, part of Strike Fighter Squadron 11 (VFA-11), the “Red Rippers.”

The command investigation reveals that the friendly fire incident nearly resulted in a much larger disaster. While initial reports centered on the aircraft that was struck, the investigation reveals that a second narrowly avoided a catastrophic end, and a third was in the crosshairs.

As the first surface-to-air missile raced upward from the Gettyburg’s missile tubes, the pilot and weapons officer of the first jet assumed the weapon was chasing after a Houthi drone they hadn’t found, the investigation said.

They watched the missile climb and then suddenly change course. As the weapon rushed toward them, the pilot suddenly saw his life flash before his eyes, he told investigators. Seeing no other choice, the two-man team ejected just before the missile struck the plane.

In that chaotic moment, the Gettysburg fired another missile at a second American fighter jet. The aviators on board issued multiple mayday calls but opted to outmaneuver it rather than bail. The missile gave chase, course correcting in pursuit of the jet.

It narrowly missed, the jet shaking as it passed just a few feet away before burning out and exploding in the water.

A Navy helicopter commander who witnessed the incident told investigators his crew “saw the missile overhead and saw it flash.” They said there was no warning before the shot was taken.

The decision to shoot was ‘wrong’

As for what caused this disaster, the command investigation pointed to a series of failures, from shortcomings in the planning process to deficiencies in the Gettysburg’s combat systems, and noted that crew fatigue may have played a role.

Early in the deployment, the investigation said, the Navy identified “significant degradation” in the Gettysburg’s core interoperability system. Problems spanned network management, surveillance and tracking reporting, identification, mutual tracking, mission engagement, and weapons coordination.

During the first three months of the deployment, the Gettysburg and Truman were often separated. The cruiser had been fending off Houthi missiles and drones shortly before the friendly fire incident, and there appeared to be some confusion over whether the threat had concluded.

That said, the investigation assessed “the decisions to shoot were wrong when measured across the totality of information available” to Gettysburg’s commanding officer, who was constrained by a series of previous actions and decisions both in and beyond his control.

The captain had low situational awareness, and his combat information center team was unable to help him regain it, the investigation said.

This shootdown incident wasn’t the Red Sea battle’s only friendly fire incident, though it was the most serious. Earlier in the Red Sea conflict, in February 2024, a German warship accidentally targeted a US MQ-9 Reaper drone, but the missiles never reached it because the warship’s radar system suffered a technical malfunction.

The December 2024 friendly fire incident was one of four major mishaps that the Truman strike group experienced during its monthslong deployment in the Middle East.

The aircraft carrier collided with a cargo vessel in February and also lost two more F/A-18s to accidents — one fell off the side of the warship along with a tow tractor in April, and another experienced a failure while landing and slid off the flight deck in May.

In a statement Thursday, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jim Kilby said that “the Navy is committed to being a learning organization,” adding that “these investigations reinforce the need to continue investing in our people to ensure we deliver battle-ready forces to operational commanders.”

• Pete Hegseth had a “unique” system installed to access his personal cell phone from inside his secure office, an investigation found.
• It’s unclear if the defense secretary’s setup violated Pentagon policy.
• The findings were part of the inspector general’s report on Hegseth’s use of Signal to share information on strikes.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had his assistant install a “unique” system in his secure office at the Pentagon that allowed him to access and control his personal cellphone from inside, a new watchdog report says.

The findings are part of Pentagon Inspector General Steven Stebbins’ investigation into Hegseth’s use of the Signal app to share sensitive information about US airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen earlier this year. The investigation concluded the secretary risked the safety of US military personnel.

The report, released Thursday, included a section stating that Hegseth’s junior military assistant, at the request of the secretary of defense, “requested and oversaw the installation of a unique capability through which the secretary could access and control his personal cell phone from inside his secure office.”

The tether system, for which photos of a prototype design were redacted in the report, was installed in late February 2025.

The system mirrored and accessed the content of the personal phone and connected a keyboard, mouse, and monitor via cable to the phone, which was located outside the office.

Within the Pentagon, especially for the officers of more senior officials, it’s not uncommon to find lockers or boxes for staff and visitors to store phones and other devices.

Department of Defense policy states that personal and government mobile devices, such as cellphones, are prohibited from secure spaces in the Pentagon, places like Hegseth’s office. The inspector general’s report concluded it could not be determined whether the unique system installed for the secretary met requirements because it was quietly removed by late April 2025.

Hegseth confirmed in a July statement to the Pentagon inspector general’s office that he requested the system.

“It is true that upon taking this job, I asked my comms team whether it was possible to get access to my personal cell phone in my office,” he said, explaining that aim was to “more easily receive non-official, communications during the workday.”

“The comms team,” the secretary said, “prepared a compliant solution that would allow me this access while also maintaining proper security.”

The Secretary of Defense Communications Team said the installed workaround was consistent with DoD information security requirements, as it didn’t physically violate the no-cellphones-in-a-secure-space rule, the investigation said.

The Pentagon didn’t immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment on the findings.

Stebbins’ investigation into Hegseth’s use of Signal for the Yemen strikes was launched after The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently added to group chats where Hegseth shared sensitive information, classified details from a SECRET/NOFORN email, about the timing of the attacks and assets that would be used to execute them.

The inspector general concluded that Hegseth’s use of the messaging app put US forces at risk because, if the information had been intercepted by US adversaries, it could have endangered US military personnel.

While the secretary said in an earlier statement to the office that “there were no details that would endanger our troops or the mission,” the investigation concluded that “the secretary’s actions created a risk to operational security that could have resulted in failed US mission objectives and potential harm to US pilots.”

“I’m working because I have to. I don’t want to.” “I’m basically working seven days a week.” “I don’t want to fall into sedentary mode.” “I’m still full of energy. I’m still very much on my game.”

These are some of the stories we heard in interviews with nearly 200 Americans who continue to work past the age of 80. In 2025, Business Insider wrote more than 20 stories and produced a short documentary video — all examining why people over 80 continue to work well beyond the typical retirement age.

Older workers are the fastest-growing sector of the US labor force. Our “80 over 80” project examines the how and why.

Check it out below:

• Meta plans to cut its budget by up to 30% in its Reality Labs metaverse division.
• It’s considering job cuts as part of that move, leaving employees uncertain.
• The cuts may impact Horizon Worlds and follow a recent executive strategy meeting in Hawaii.

Meta is planning budget cuts and considering job cuts as part of that across its metaverse unit, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The company is considering budget cuts of up to 30% within its Reality Labs division, which could impact employees working on its virtual spaces platform, Horizon Worlds, according to the person Business Insider spoke to. The person requested anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak to the press on these matters.

Bloomberg earlier reported on the potential cuts.

The news follows a meeting last month at Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Hawaii compound, where he discussed strategy and next year’s plans with executives, the person familiar with the matter told Business Insider.

Internally, employees face uncertainty about whether the planned cost cuts will ultimately lead to layoffs. Directors are telling employees that most of the reductions will come from operating expenses, according to two other employees, who asked to remain anonymous because they’re not authorized to speak to the press. In addition to salaries, these expenses include payments made by Meta to third-party studios to create games for Horizon.

Meta declined to comment.

The overhaul comes on the back of Reality Labs racking up losses of over $60 billion since 2020 and Meta ramping up its AI spending this year in an increasingly competitive — and expensive — AI race.

Analysts at TD Cowen estimated that a cut of around 30% to Meta’s metaverse budget could translate into roughly $4 billion to $6 billion in cost cuts for Reality Labs in 2026.

BNP Paribas analysts said the reported reductions could lift their 2027 earnings estimates by as much as the high single digits — and even more if Meta trims spending across the rest of the company. They said that the moves show Meta is willing to pull back on some of its metaverse ambitions to focus on nearer-term AI opportunities, even as investors lack clarity on how much it will ultimately spend on AI infrastructure.

Meta’s stock rose as much as 4% Thursday morning, adding $69 billion to its market cap and bringing its total value to $1.68 trillion.

Meta’s metaverse metamorphosis

It’s not the first time that Meta has reorganized its metaverse unit. In October, it tapped Gabriel Aul, who led products for Meta Horizon, and Ryan Cairns, previously in charge of virtual reality hardware, to co-lead its metaverse efforts, according to an internal memo Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth wrote, which was obtained by Business Insider.

Vishal Shah, who helped lead Meta’s metaverse initiatives over the past four years, announced in a separate October memo that he is transitioning to Meta Superintelligence Labs. On Wednesday, Meta announced that it has hired Apple design leader Alan Dye to lead a new Reality Labs creative studio.

The company also cut an undisclosed number of Reality Labs employees in April as part of a broader restructuring effort. The cuts affected Oculus Studios, the company’s in-house gaming division for Quest headsets, as well as the team behind Supernatural, the VR fitness app that Meta acquired for over $400 million.

Bosworth previously described this year as the “most critical” to proving whether the metaverse is either a visionary feat or a “legendary misadventure,” he wrote in a November 2024 internal memo.

“We need to drive sales, retention, and engagement across the board but especially in MR,” he wrote at the time, referring to mixed reality. “And Horizon Worlds on mobile absolutely has to break out for our long-term plans to have a chance. If you don’t feel the weight of history on you, then you aren’t paying attention.”

The losses racked up by Reality Labs have drawn investor scrutiny. In Meta’s first-quarter earnings call, Evercore analyst Mark Mahaney asked whether Reality Labs losses would ever come down, and if so, why and when. Zuckerberg pointed to the rising momentum behind Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, saying they’ve “really taken off” and just “tripled in sales” in the last year.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at jmann@businessinsider.com or Signal at jyotimann.11. Contact Pranav Dixit via email at pranavdixit@protonmail.com or Signal at 1-408-905-9124. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here’s our guide to sharing information securely.

If you’re still looking for best-in-class or best-of-breed when it comes to your enterprise management systems, it might be time to raise your expectations.

According to Stephan de Barse, president of the global Business Suite for SAP, a new gold standard has emerged — a superlative he calls “best of suite.”

In de Barse’s view, the competitive arena for enterprise management now exists within an integrated framework of AI, data, and core applications. That elevates it from a narrower proving ground, where being a “best of breed” provider checks only one or two of those boxes.

And while being “best of suite” isn’t all about AI, the rapid acceleration of AI-centered workflows meant that SAP needed to think differently about the role of AI in enterprise management. This outcome — a clear path and proximity for AI to easily navigate between divisions and functions — is one of the ways the SAP Business Suite lives up to the new designation.

“Many companies treat AI like a separate layer somewhere in the technology stack,” said de Barse. “That way, it’s disconnected from your end-to-end business processes and disconnected from your data strategy. The moment AI doesn’t make it back to the end-to-end business-process context it’s very, very difficult to drive value.”

AI with suite-wide sweep

According to McKinsey’s on-going tracking of enterprise AI from the C-Suite perspective — captured in regular releases of its State of AI reports — the percentage of organizations that report using AI in three or more divisions more than doubled between 2021 and 2025. Use of AI in four or more company divisions tripled across that time period. Companies using AI across five or more divisions — while starting smaller at 4% of those surveyed in 2021 — posted quadruple growth, forecasting near enterprise-wide ubiquity for AI use.

This trajectory toward AI native enterprises is significant. Where the AI ROI conversation was once centered around generalized productivity powered by LLMs, de Barse has watched it reach hard improvements in both the P&L (e.g. improvement of topline revenue) and the Balance Sheet (e.g. improvement of working capital).

He cited the example of an AI agent on the commercial side of an enterprise forecasting deals likely to close. This would send a signal to manufacturing to increase capacity and procurement to line up raw materials.

“If you think about the entire value chain, from sourcing components to getting a product in the hands of customers, that has to be orchestrated by a series of agents that can help organizations reach better decisions and improve business results,” de Barse said. “Customers want to work with us to get there, because they understand this must be across business processes.”

Best in suite meets best in orchestration

SAP’s own proprietary AI interface is known as Joule, which de Barse described as a “superorchestrator” — a single, accessible entry point to all business applications that, in aggregate, determine how an enterprise runs and employees work, as well as the customer experience.

With Joule, “you ask questions, but you also give instructions,” de Barse said. “You don’t have to log into five different applications to do something — it’s all being orchestrated by Joule. So the way we think about interacting with software becomes different.”

For manufacturers, that can mean an easy conversational prompt to forecast potential supply-chain disruptions and arrive at a solve. In the finance context, it means instant insight into the cash conversion cycle relative to working capital.

“At the enterprise level, this is happening at an unprecedented pace,” he said.

In de Barse’s view, these capabilities also call for cultural shifts within organizations — leaning away from optimizing current processes to rethinking how entire functions should be done, so that what becomes automated and tasked to agents is operating in “best-of-suite” condition.

“It’s pretty exciting. This,” he said, “is the opportunity.”

• Spotify Wrapped has added a new feature, and it’s humiliating some of us!
• Young people who listen to classic rock or ’90s music are shocked to be called old.
• A colleague who’s in his 30s and listens to a lot of jazz got an age of 86. I got 59 — and I’m 44.

Every December, Spotify Wrapped manages to disappoint parents of young children by reminding them that their identity as fully fledged humans has been erased, leaving just a husk of a vessel that exists only to hit the repeat button on “Wheels on the Bus” or the “Encanto” soundtrack.

But, oh, how the tables have finally turned. Now, young people in their teens and 20s are getting a dose of Spotify’s cruel and merciless wrath.

Spotify Wrapped just added a new metric to its year-end personalized wrap-up: “listening age.” In addition to telling you which songs and artists you listened to the most, it will give you an estimated age based on your listening tastes.

And for some people, it’s waaaay off. And Gen Z — and even some of us in the older set — is getting offended.

Gharieth Edries is only 23, but Spotify just told him his listening age is 50. Edries told me that he isn’t totally surprised.

“I dabbled in a bit of Duran Duran this year, due to my parents, unknowingly realizing that I would become overly obsessed with their artwork and that it would appear in my top 5 artists (their music is just sooooo good),” he said. Duran Duran opened a door to more.

“Depeche Mode, Wham, Pet Shop Boys, New Order. These are some of my mother’s favorite bands, and I completely understand her now.”

Charlotte Ward, 22 in real life, is a big Fleetwood Mac fan, and Spotify pegged her as 68 — “unc” status in Gen Z slang.

I have also been a victim of Spotify’s mis-aging me. I’m a spry and youthful 44, but apparently my listening habits are those of a 59-year-old. (I also like ’80s music, although I would have assumed the dominance of the “K-Pop Demon Hunters” soundtrack would have dragged down my average.)

A few of my colleagues here at Business Insider also got some surprising ages: Economy editor Bartie Scott, who’s 36, got 72, and media editor Nathan McAlone, who’s also 36, got a whopping 86 years old. (He thinks that’s because he listens to a lot of classic jazz while reading at home, which sounds very cozy and also exactly what an 86-year-old would do.)

Spotify also suggested some people were younger than they actually are. “I got 23 and tbh I think that’s more offensive somehow,” an unnamed 39-year-old reporter who’s too embarrassed to use her real name said in one of our Slacks. And my editor is 47, but Spotify told him he’s got the musical tastes of someone who’s 30.

The exact formula for calculating the listening age is unclear, but my guess is that it involves assuming a listener is 18 to 20 years old at the year a song is released. The assumption is that if you listen to a ton of the Beatles, your listening age is going to be around 75. If you listen to mainly Taylor Swift, you’re probably 34. I asked Spotify for its secret sauce, but it didn’t immediately respond.

Is it cringe to listen to music that’s way older than you actually are? Well, maybe. Being young and listening to old music is a sign you’re developing a deep and varied musical palate, right? The really humiliating thing would be to be 44 and have it accurately peg you for listening to the same stuff that came out when you were in college. Is having the musical tastes of a much younger person cool or not cool? I truly don’t know!

What does it all mean? It’s all part of the weird fascination of Spotify Wrapped. Music is so uniquely personal; we feel it says so much about who we are, and we can feel proud or embarrassed by this.

As someone who has ceded control of Spotify to my kids’ whims for the last decade, I am delighted to see others join my pain. Maybe when I’m actually 59, I’ll have the time to get back into new music on my own.