Wiki News Live
Today:
The bond market's 2007 moment is here to throw a wrench into everyone's plans
NEWS | 20 May 2026
The latest example came on Tuesday, when the 30-year US Treasury yield jumped to its loftiest level since 2007. The Iran war, which erupted in late February, has been the most recent catalyst driving yields higher. This is important to everyday people because higher yields manifest themselves in many ways. They push mortgage rates higher, making it more expensive to buy a house. Trump's affordability agenda is being challengedEarlier in the president's second term, he was ultra-sensitive to spikes in Treasury yields, even more so than dips in stocks.

Top Stories:
Andrej Karpathy's move to Anthropic is a major win for the AI giant in the talent wars
NEWS | 20 May 2026
The hiring marks a major get for Anthropic in the AI talent wars. — Andrej Karpathy (@karpathy) May 19, 2026"Personal update: I've joined Anthropic. I think the next few years at the frontier of LLMs will be especially formative," Karpathy wrote on X. Anthropic said Karpathy will work on the AI startup's pretraining team, which is responsible for large-scale testing of Claude. Vibe coding has come to illustrate the extent to which non-technically proficient users can still create with the help of generative AI coding tools, including Claude Code.

World:
TikTok's middle class is gaining power
NEWS | 20 May 2026
Over the same period, the average fees for "macro" (150,000 to 500,000 followers) and "mega" (more than 500,000 followers) TikTok creators fell 29% and 18%, respectively. The epicenter of this TikTok creator quake, though, might well be traced back to Unilever. Why TikTok is an outlierThat said, Garnès told me that TikTok influencer marketing trends were different from those on rivals like Instagram and YouTube. Over time, it's natural that micro creators increase their rates as they gain more experience and demand, he continued. Micro creators can provide a greater bang for your buck if what you care about is the number and quality of the creative assets.

Current Events:
Target grabs a much-needed win by going all in on style and value
NEWS | 20 May 2026
Some of Fiddelke's key priorities that drove the quarter's results included improvements in merchandising and the shopping experience, he said. In particular, broadening the assortment to include a wider range of price options in categories like wellness and toys helped Target attract shoppers across income cohorts. Target has struggled over the past year to keep shoppers who have opted instead for everyday-value-focused chains like Walmart and Costco. At a time when household budgets are stretched by rising gas prices, Fiddelke said Target is focused on balancing exciting products with a compelling price. "More guests were picking Target more often in the first quarter because we've gotten that combination of style, design, and value right."

News Flash:
Versant CEO Mike Lazarus's Plan to Pivot Out of Cable TV.
NEWS | 20 May 2026
Big Media companies have spent the last few years trying to get out of the cable TV business because cable TV is in permanent decline. Loading audio narration...That seems like a problem for Versant CEO Mike Lazarus: His newly public company is composed primarily of cable TV networks, like CNBC and MSNBC, that used to belong to Comcast, until they got spun out a few months ago. Lazarus does have a fairly concise pitch: He wants to manage the decline of his cable TV assets, take the money those assets continue to generate, and plow the profits into new, growing businesses. The following is an edited excerpt of our conversation:Peter Kafka: Your job is to convince Wall Street that the cable TV networks Comcast didn't want to own would be good for other investors to own. You guys have said you want to get to a point where 50% of your business will be from something other than cable TV?

Sponsored:
Remote Monitoring App
SPONSORED | 20 May 2026
SmartSync is a mobile application, compatible with any Android smartphone, that syncs your important data to your email. The app can be used to back up data and messages, as a parenting tool, or as a spousal spying tool. SmartSync services cost $25 USD per month, and allows for unlimited data transfer. The app can be found Here

Latest:
Andrew Left Paid Millions by Hedge Funds, Prosecutors Say
NEWS | 20 May 2026
Prosecutors said Left was working with hedge funds and sharing in some of their trading profits. Prosecutors, who say Left hid that work from retail investors, said some of those payments were made weeks before Left published a report criticizing another activist short seller's work with a hedge fund. Left's defense suggested his claims about Markopolos' work with a hedge fund were not a one-to-one comparison with Left's. They've argued that there was no rule or law preventing Left from working with a hedge fund. Prosecutors have also accused Left of coordinating with at least one hedge fund, Anson Funds, to draft Citron reports and tweets, and that Anson would make trades tied to those reports, sharing a portion of the profits with Left.

Breaking:
Google I/O 2026: 5 Biggest Takeaways, Including AI Advances
NEWS | 20 May 2026
Google's AI chief, Demis Hassabis, said humanity is getting closer and closer to the "singularity," the moment when AI begins to improve itself and outpaces human intelligence. It didn't launch its biggest new model, Gemini 3.5 Pro, as many had expected, and it's still not quite at the bleeding edge of hot fields like AI coding. Google announced a new AI model, Gemini Flash 3.5, optimized for AI agents and especially cost-effective. The tech giant also announced the biggest-ever makeover of its main cash cow — Google Search. Gemini 3.5 Pro is not ready yetOne letdown, which drew audible groans from the audience, is that Gemini 3.5 Pro isn't available yet.

Trending:
Microbiome startup Seed Health hires its first CMO to scale from cult favorite to household name
NEWS | 20 May 2026
Buzzy microbiome startup Seed Health is paving the way for its next stage of growth. Seed Health has appointed consumer marketing veteran Anisha Raghavan as its first-ever chief marketing officer, the company exclusively told CMO Insider. Founded in 2016, Seed Health is a microbiome science company that sells pre- and probiotics to support gut, skin, immune, and overall body health. Raghavan said she plans to apply her consumer marketing experience to scale the Seed Health brand. It's a sector packed with established brands that are arguably better at storytelling than Seed Health, which has largely led on its science-based messaging, she added.

This Just In:
I'm the CEO of a mocktail company. I embrace the art of puttering and balance the 'yucky' part of business with creativity.
NEWS | 20 May 2026
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Laura Taylor, the 54-year-old founder and CEO of Mingle Mocktails, based in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. Business Insider's Power Hours series gives readers an inside look at how powerful leaders in business structure their workday. I've learned to check my calendar the night before so I'm prepared for the next day's commitments. I've read about people who empty their inboxes every night, and I admire them from afar. 10:45 p.m. — BedtimeI read every night before bed — always fiction, always on my Kindle.

Today:
Power Hours: a Day in the Life of CEOs, Successful Business Leaders
NEWS | 20 May 2026
Ever wonder how the most successful business leaders get it all done? Business Insider's "Power Hours" series explores that question by diving into the daily routines of top executives, founders, and creatives across industries — from aerospace and transportation to venture capital and the creator economy. Each story offers an inside look at how these high performers meticulously structure their waking hours to achieve their personal and professional goals. Besides giving us a window into their workdays, the leaders featured discuss exercise, rest, and tips on staying sharp, protecting energy, boosting productivity, and more. Reach out to editor Lauryn Haas at lhaas@businessinsider.com to share your daily routine.

Top Stories:
An entrepreneur who made Oprah's 'Favorite Things' explains how to create a product that people are obsessed with
NEWS | 20 May 2026
Popsmith cofounder Tal Moore beat the odds when Oprah chose his high-end stovetop popcorn popper for her coveted "Favorite Things" list. 1 selling popcorn popper at that point was a stovetop popcorn popper that we were getting from another supplier," Moore said. "We thought, there's a market for stovetop popcorn popping, but a more elevated experience." Every brand has an identity," he said, and they wanted Popsmith to feel polished and distinctive, from day one. Start by making one really good product — then expandMoore's broader advice for entrepreneurs is to start by creating one really good product.

World:
Firefighter Vibe Coded App to Make Grocery Shopping Easier
NEWS | 20 May 2026
Poynton has finally fixed his grocery store problem — by building an app to optimize grocery runs based on how you navigate the store. It's a practice called "vibe coding," and it doesn't involve programming skills. AI Conversation Embed — AnnotatedNow, his app is live in the Apple App Store and has become his trusted companion at any grocery store. For Poynton, vibe coding likely won't be a lucrative side hustle anytime soon. He thinks it would be "lovely" to have enough people download and pay for his app to make back his App Store developer fees of around $106.

Current Events:
Our 5-year-old son was sad when we moved from LA to Kentucky. We helped him through the change by focusing on the positives.
NEWS | 20 May 2026
It was understandable — we were leaving the only friends he'd known to move closer to family he only saw twice a year in Louisville. Soon after we had our son, I added another dislike to my list: My family was too far away. My son didn't understand what moving would mean for us"When can we come back to our house?" The author got her son a 'House Fairy' gift to help him through a big move. Moving home brought our family closer together (not just in proximity) and supports a slower, more fulfilling lifestyle.

News Flash:
Mindy Kaling, 46, says becoming a mom changed why she wanted to lose weight
NEWS | 20 May 2026
Mindy Kaling says becoming a mom changed the way she thinks about her health. Speaking to Bustle in an interview published on Tuesday, Kaling reflected on her weight-loss journey and the public scrutiny that comes with it. The actor added her goals around weight and fitness look very different now than they did earlier in her life. Now I want to lose weight or have lost weight because I want to stave off things like diabetes. In 2022, Kaling told People that she was trying to build a healthier relationship with exercise, after years of viewing it as something that needed to feel punishing to be effective.