Recruiters say a candidate's answer to a credential gap decides the offer
Business Insider checked records in all 50 states and DC and found no evidence of a bar admission for press secretary Katie Zacharia. Recruiters quoted in the article say a candidate's answer to a discrepancy settles the offer.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap
- Not scored
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence60
Disney commits $180 million to 66 Character.AI staff two weeks after laying off some tech workers
Disney expects to spend $180 million over three years on pay and retention for 66 Character.AI staff, Business Insider reported from a Chapter 11 filing. That is nine times the $20 million Disney agreed to pay for the startup's assets.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap
- Not scored
- Incentives50
- Confidence60
Tesla's flying Roadster reservation is refundable even though price and delivery stay open
Tesla's terms for Roadster reservations of up to $250,000 leave the final price open and guarantee no delivery, Business Insider reported. It also describes the payment as fully refundable, so a holder risks the wait and an unset price.
Reality
- Evidence70
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+35
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence60
Campaigns keep buying TV while 26% of adults credit influencers with swaying their vote
Morning Consult found 26% of US adults say influencer content has affected who they voted for, in a September survey. Business Insider reported that campaigns still spend the bulk of their ad budgets on TV.
Reality
- Evidence40
- Adoption45
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives60
- Confidence50
Microsoft AI says its 2.8-trillion-parameter MAI-Base-2 will let it license model weights to trusted partners through Foundry. It also says it tunes its models first for its own products and then for Foundry customers, so licensees would come second.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives70
- Confidence60
Katie Zacharia is Trump's sixth press secretary, two more than Clinton or Bush had
Katie Zacharia held her first briefing as White House press secretary on Tuesday, the sixth person in the job under Trump. The count is high against recent presidents, but all three tenures under a year came before Leavitt.
Reality
- Evidence70
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap−10
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence65
Census Bureau working paper finds new graduates in AI-exposed majors earned 13% less at first
Graduates in the most AI-exposed fields were 5 points less likely to be employed the quarter after graduating, a Census Bureau paper finds. The figures cover only that first quarter, so they speak to this quarter's entry-level market and little beyond it.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence50
Katie Zacharia's self-description as a lawyer draws two California bar complaints
Two groups asked California's bar to investigate whether press secretary Katie Zacharia broke state law by calling herself a lawyer. Law professors told Business Insider a general counsel title without admission could count against her in a later application.
Reality
- Evidence68
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap
- Not scored
- Incentives60
- Confidence62
Latvia plans a border anti-drone network where a soldier makes only the final call, its minister says
Latvia is building border anti-drone defenses in which only the final neutralization decision is human, defense minister Raivis Melnis told Business Insider. The aim is to run the network with fewer soldiers, though the reporting does not say when it will be finished, what it costs or how many soldiers it would save.
Reality
- Evidence30
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives55
- Confidence50
Microagi's Shift offers free private chefs in San Francisco in exchange for footage of their work
Microagi's CEO says the company pays more than 35,000 people in over 15 countries to film physical tasks, Business Insider reported. Robotics is short of training data, so startups are buying footage of skilled work such as private cooking.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption50
- Hype gap+25
- Incentives70
- Confidence60
Just 9% of 400 CEOs call AI agents transformational in KPMG survey
KPMG US found only 9% of 400 large-company CEOs call AI agents transformational, though about four in 10 report significant gains. Nine in 10 expect to add headcount over three years. KPMG's Tim Walsh says the unfinished work is in processes and data.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption40
- Hype gap+10
- Incentives50
- Confidence60
YouTube calls its July 20 AI-content update a clarification of a long-standing inauthentic content rule
YouTube said on July 20 it wants to reward creators who use AI to enhance original storytelling over those who mass-produce generic content. A spokesperson called it a clarification of an existing policy, so creator programs are already subject to the rule.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+10
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence55
Working from home has held at 26% of US workdays, nearly four times the 2019 rate
Business Insider reports that working from home accounts for about 26% of US workdays, up from 7% in 2019. The share has barely moved in two years, so attendance mandates meet a flat baseline.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption26
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence50
Broadcast and cable TV still take over 60% of the estimated $11.6 billion in 2026 political spending
More than 60% of the estimated $11.6 billion in 2026 political spending will go to broadcast and cable TV, Business Insider reported. Strategist Rob Flaherty says operatives copy one another and consultants earn more as the TV share rises.
Reality
- Evidence40
- Adoption80
- Hype gap−5
- Incentives65
- Confidence50
Columbia adjunct estimates Uber drivers in six of 16 cities earn below the federal minimum wage after costs
Columbia Business School's Len Sherman estimates Uber's median pay on active rides is $19.30 an hour in Orlando and $46 in Los Angeles. Uber, which has said drivers earn more than $30 an hour, calls the analysis flawed.
Reality
- Evidence40
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap−5
- Incentives55
- Confidence50
H-1B wage weighting and a contested $100,000 fee favor the best-paid applicants
Applications to the March 2026 H-1B lottery fell more than 38% from a year earlier, USCIS said, while the $100,000 fee stays held up in the courts. Business Insider concludes that employers with cash and workers with scarce skills come out ahead.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption40
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence55
Cathay Pacific puts $19 billion into upgrades that include new 777-300ER premium cabins
Cathay Pacific is investing $19 billion in its fleet, cabins, lounges and digital products for its 80th anniversary, Business Insider reported. The account does not say how the money divides among them; the one price signal is early fares.
Reality
- Evidence40
- Adoption25
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives55
- Confidence50
Meta scales back staff cuts and AI agents as error cleanup eats into employee time
Meta has scaled back plans to cut staff and use more AI agents after employees spent growing time fixing errors, Reuters reported. Leaders planning similar cuts are trading a headcount saving this quarter for cleanup and oversight costs next quarter.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence50
AI data offers for company Slack and Docs come with six-figure sums and 48-hour deadlines
AI labs and their data brokers are offering six-figure sums for live workplace data such as Slack DMs and Docs, Business Insider reported. Gartner projects AI data spending at almost $6.5 billion in 2027, so a company needs a policy on selling its data before the offer arrives.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption55
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives70
- Confidence55
Ukrainian intelligence finds terrain-matching cameras on Russia's jet-powered Gerans
Ukraine's defence intelligence directorate says Russia is fitting its Susanin camera navigation module to Geran-4 and Geran-5 K5 jet drones. At scale, Business Insider reports, the modules would bypass jamming, a key pillar of Ukraine's air defence.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption35
- Hype gap+10
- Incentives55
- Confidence50