To attract the brightest minds to America, President Donald Trump proposed a novel idea while campaigning: If elected, he would grant green cards to all foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges.“It’s so sad when we lose people from Harvard, MIT, from the greatest schools,” Trump said during a podcast interview last June. “That is going to end on Day One.”That promise never came to pass. Trump’s stance on welcoming foreign students has shifted dramatically. International students have found themselves at the center of an escalating campaign to kick them out or keep them from coming as his administration merges a crackdown on immigration with an effort to reshape higher education.An avalanche of policies from the Trump administrationsuch as terminating students’ ability to study in the U.S., halting all new student visa interviews and moving to block foreign enrollment at Harvardhave triggered lawsuits, countersuits and confusion. Foreign students say they feel targeted on multiple fronts. Late Wednesday, Trump himself took the latest action against international students, signing an executive order barring nearly all foreigners from entering the country to attend Harvard.In interviews, students from around the world described how it feels to be an international student today in America. Their accounts highlight pervasive feelings of fear, anxiety and insecurity that have made them more cautious in their daily lives, distracted them from schoolwork and prompted many to cancel trips home because they fear not being allowed to return.For many, the last few months have forced them to rethink their dreams of building a life in America.
A standout student from Latvia feels ‘expendable’
Markuss Saule, a freshman at Brigham Young University-Idaho, took a recent trip home to Latvia and spent the entire flight back to the U.S. in a state of panic.For hours, he scrubbed his phone, uninstalling all social media, deleting anything that touched on politics or could be construed as anti-Trump.“That whole 10-hour flight, where I was debating, ‘Will they let me in?’it definitely killed me a little bit,” said Saule, a business analytics major. “It was terrifying.”Saule is the type of international student the U.S. has coveted. As a high schooler in Latvia, he qualified for a competitive, merit-based exchange program funded by the U.S. State Department. He spent a year of high school in Minnesota, falling in love with America and a classmate who is now his fiancee. He just ended his freshman year in college with a 4.0 GPA.But the alarm he felt on that flight crushed what was left of his American dream.“If you had asked me at the end of 2024 what my plans were, it was to get married, find a great job here in the U.S. and start a family,” said Saule, who hopes to work as a business data analyst. “Those plans are not applicable anymore. Ask me now, and the plan to leave this place as soon as possible.”Saule and his fiancee plan to marry this summer, graduate a year early and move to Europe.This spring the Trump administration abruptly revoked permission to study in the U.S. for thousands of international students before reversing itself. A federal judge has blocked further status terminations, but for many, the damage is done. Saule has a constant fear he could be next.As a student in Minnesota just three years ago, he felt like a proud ambassador for his country.“Now I feel a sense of inferiority. I feel that I am expendable, that I am purely an appendage that is maybe getting cut off soon,” he said. Trump’s policies carry a clear subtext. “The policies, what they tell me is simple. It is one word: Leave.”
From dreaming of working at NASA to ‘doomscrolling’ job listings in India
A concern for attracting the world’s top students was raised in the interview Trump gave last June on the podcast “All-In.” Can you promise, Trump was asked, to give companies more ability “to import the best and brightest” students?“I do promise,” Trump answered. Green cards, he said, would be handed out with diplomas to any foreign student who gets a college or graduate degree.Trump said he knew stories of “brilliant” graduates who wanted to stay in the U.S. to work but couldn’t. “They go back to India, they go back to China” and become multi-billionaires, employing thousands of people. “That is going to end on Day One.”Had Trump followed through with that pledge, a 24-year-old Indian physics major named Avi would not be afraid of losing everything he has worked toward.After six years in Arizona, where Avi attended college and is now working as an engineer, the U.S. feels like a second home. He dreams of working at NASA or in a national lab and staying in America where he has several relatives.But now he is too afraid to fly to Chicago to see them, rattled by news of foreigners being harassed at immigration centers and airports.“Do I risk seeing my family or risk deportation?” said Avi, who asked to be identified by his first name, fearing retribution.Avi is one of about 240,000 people on student visas in the U.S. on Optional Practical Traininga postgraduation period where students are authorized to work in fields related to their degrees for up to three years. A key Trump nominee has said he would like to see an end to postgraduate work authorization for international students.Avi’s visa is valid until next year but he feels “a massive amount of uncertainty.”He wonders if he can sign a lease on a new apartment. Even his daily commute feels different.“I drive to work every morning, 10 miles an hour under speed limit to avoid getting pulled over,” said Avi, who hopes to stay in the U.S. but is casting a wider net. “I spend a lot of time doomscrolling job listings in India and other places.”
A Ukrainian chose college in America over joining the fight at homefor now
Vladyslav Plyaka came to the U.S. from Ukraine as an exchange student in high school. As war broke out at home, he stayed to attend the University of Wisconsin.He was planning to visit Poland to see his mother but if he leaves the U.S., he would need to reapply for a visa. He doesn’t know when that will be possible now that visa appointments are suspended, and he doesn’t feel safe leaving the country anyway.He feels grateful for the education, but without renewing his visa, he’ll be stuck in the U.S. at least two more years while he finishes his degree. He sometimes wonders if he would be willing to risk leaving his education in the United Statessomething he worked for years to achieveif something hppened to his family.“It’s hard because every day I have to think about my family, if everything is going to be all right,” he said.It took him three tries to win a scholarship to study in the U.S. Having that cut short because of visa problems would undermine the sacrifice he made to be here. He sometimes feels guilty that he isn’t at home fighting for his country, but he knows there’s value in gaining an education in America.“I decided to stay here just because of how good the college education is,” he said. “If it was not good, I probably would be on the front lines.”
AP Education Writer Collin Binkley contributed to this report.
The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Jocelyn Gecker, AP Education Writer
Gone are the days when YouTube was just for catching up on vlogs or diving into late-night rabbit holes. Today, the platform is staking its claim in TV and film.
According to a new survey conducted by Looper Insights between April 16 and 25, 66% of consumers discover TV or film content via YouTube. For 61%, its already part of their regular streaming habits, and for 34%, it’s a main source for TV and film content, as reported by Media Play News.
This shift isnt surprising. In April, the Google-owned platform captured a record 12.4% share of all TV viewing. And its not just rival streamers who should be concerned. For three consecutive months, YouTube has ranked as the No. 1 distributor of television content, according to Nielsen.
Media executives are taking notice. Among the 65 surveyed, 84% view YouTube as a viable platform for launching long-form content, and 30% are actively considering it for upcoming releases.
In Q1 2025, more Americans watched YouTube on TV screens than on mobile devicesa first. Meeting audiences in the living room, media companies have begun uploading premium content directly to the platform. Earlier this year, Warner Bros. quietly released more than 30 full-length films on YouTube, free to watch.
Yet as YouTube continues its rise, creators face critical decisions. Some, like Ms Rachel, have signed licensing deals with Netflix. MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson), YouTubes most-subscribed creator, brought Beast Games to the small screen via Prime Video.
Still, many fans would rather their favorite YouTubers stay where they started. More than half (54%) of respondents said YouTubers feel more authentic and better suited to the platform that launched their careers. Meanwhile, nearly three-quarters (74%) of executives noted that creator-led shows often underperform on platforms like Netflix and Prime, citing poor audience migration and an overreliance on follower counts.
The good news: The YouTube takeover is already in full swingso creators may not need to go anywhere at all.
When Frances Berwick started at Bravo in the 1990s, the cable channel was still positioning itself as a hub for film and arts. Berwick climbed the NBCUniversal ladder, eventually growing her domain to all of the companys entertainment cable channels, including E!, Oxygen True Crime, SYFY, USA, and Universal Kids.
Her rise at NBCUniversal has coincided with cables decline. Some 46% of households have cut the cord, and many of the networks she once oversaw faced dwindling audiences and profits to send back to parent company Comcast. So, the company amputated the afflicted limbs. All of those entertainment networks, along with news magnets like MSNBC and CNBC, will be overseen by a spinoff company, Versant, which is expected to be spun out by the end of 2025.
But Bravo, the network that houses reality franchises like The Real Housewives, Vanderpump Rules, and Top Chef, is staying in-house. Thats due in part to the fan-driven culture of its programming, which can prop up custom advertising, live events, andthe company hopestheir streamer Peacock. Berwick will lead the way: In January, she was named chair of Bravo and Peacock Unscripted, effectively merging the reality network with its streamer.
Bravo isnt the perfect bet for NBCUniversals television future. Its cable presence is sagging like most of its Versant counterparts, with an expected decline of 5% in subscribers and 6.5% in ad sales in 2025, per market research firm Kagan. (Bravo declined to disclose their financials.) Bravo also remains tied up in some long-tailed legal battles from 2023s Reality Reckoning, when claims of talent mistreatment challenged the network.
But across conversations with network executives, reality stars, and fans, its clear that Bravo and Peacock have grown inseparable. Bravo-holics expect to watch their favorite programming cable-free, and Peacock relies on the backbone of Bravos low-churn, high-volume audience. Berwick herself calls Peacock critical to the Bravo ecosystem, and vice versa. NBCUniversal is betting that the relationship is strong enough to save Bravo from a looming cable onslaught.
Bravo and Peacock’s ‘Infinity Loop’
After almost five years, Peacock is still the least profitable contender in the streaming wars. While Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, and Hulu have all reached positive profits, Peacock lost $215 million in the first quarter of 2025. Still, Peacocks revenue rose 16% to $1.2 billion, and Comcast president Mike Cavanagh predicted improved monetization, bigger scale and therefore declining losses over time.
NBCUniversals primary reason for keeping Bravo in-house is to ensure a loyal, engaged audience for Peacock.
Dave Kaplan, NBCUniversals EVP of content analytics, calls Bravo top of the pack for habitual viewers across cable and streaming. Bravo viewerswhich can number as many as 4 million per episode for the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (RHOBH)are a consistent, low-churn audience who are likely to maintain their subscriptions. Many are yearslong viewers, hopping from show to show and never tapping out. The only other audience that comes close is for procedurals like Law & Order.
Bravos sizable audience also means that Bravo shows dominate on Peacock. The streamers daily list of top 10 TV shows almost always has multiple Bravo programs among the ranks. The recent season of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City was a blowout success, averaging 2.7 million across platforms. Importantly, 55% of those 2.7 million viewers watched on Peacock.
[Bravos] audience comes back more days in a month; when they do come they tend to watch more distinct titles, Kaplan says. They also spend more hours collectively consuming the content. Those three markers are significantly higher for the Bravo cohort than the Peacock average. That says to us that they are a really high-value cohort.
[Photo: Courtesy NBCUniversal]
The Peacock audience is different from the cable one. Theyre noticeably younger, and often more willing to invest in nascent programming. Kaplan points to Peacock as a primary reason for the success of Southern Hospitality, which has grown steadily over its three seasons and just hit 1.3 million average viewers. For a lot of these new shows that are getting discovered for the first time and that don’t have those entrenched habits of how they’re being consumed on cable, we look to Peacock even more importantly to grow that audience, he says.
Most importantly, Peacock and Bravo have entered a sort of crossover content partnership, one that will be expanded with Berwicks new role. Bravo stars have broken out on Peacock Originals like The Traitors. When Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix started hosting Peacocks Love Island USA last year, it became the summers most-watched unscripted streaming original at over 5 billion minutes, per Nielsen. Some shows make the jump from streaming to cable, as The Real Housewives of Miami did, and The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys will do this summer.
We have a great opportunity between linear and streaming to find everyone where they are and deliver the content in the way that they want to access it, says Jenny Storms, NBCUniversal CMO of TV and streaming. It’s about doubling down on the efforts of what we call our infinity loop between Bravo and Peacock
From Reality Reckoning to Peacocks Pride
Bravos recent victory lap is especially shocking, given recent years of bad press. In 2023, former Real Housewives of New York (RHONY) star Bethenny Frankel called out the network for poor treatment of its talent, pushing reality stars to unionize. Two years ago, the movement ripped through Bravos public image, begetting a Vanity Fair exposé. The news has since quietedbut the lawsuits persist.
Former RHONY star Leah McSweeney is suing Bravo for discrimination, alleging that employees were pressured to consume alcohol. Meanwhile, former Real Housewives of New Jersey (RHONJ) star Caroline Manzo is suing Bravo for encouraging and allowing costar Brandi Glanville to sexually harass her. (McSweeney, Manzo, and Glanville did not respond to reqests for comment.)
People are being held both publicly and legally accountable, Frankel wrote in a statement to Fast Company. Sets have changed. Cultures are evolving. And people are finally being held responsible for their behavior. By that definition alone, the Reality Reckoning is already a success.
[Photo: Courtesy NBCUniversal]
Andy Cohenthe longtime Bravo executive and on-camera host who executive produces 11 shows across NBCUniversal, including all of the Housewives franchisesis largely tight-lipped about the controversy. “It was a lot of noise,” he says.
Berwick says the network was in the midst of adjusting its approach to some elements of its shows when the controversy happened.
There were changes that we were already making around certain aspects of our production, including one thats been much talked about around alcohol, Berwick says. We were always thoughtful about that, but now were being even more thoughtful.
On-camera talent suggests that productions have been more open to hearing about their experiences on the show.
There have been some times where Im like, this trip is not good. Why are we in Texas? says Gizelle Bryant, longtime star of The Real Housewives of Potomac. We came back from Mexico and had a nice little talk with [VP of Current Production] Josh Brown and said, were not doing that again. We got bit by mosquitos and it wasnt fun. He listened and said no problem.
Old Franchises, New Audiences
While Bravos synergy with Peacock is ostensibly the reason they kept it in-house, one cannot overlook the contents recent success. Television viewing is down across mediums, thanks to the growth of alternative platforms like YouTube and TikTok. But Berwick points out that the majority of Bravo shows are expanding their audiences year-over-year.
Decades-old legacy franchises form the backbone of Bravo. The Real Housewives of Orange County (RHOC) premiered 19 years ago; Below Deck is nearly 12 years old.
From these base franchises come a variety of spin-offs and themed lead-ins. RHOBH led to Vanderpump Rules, which provided a lead-in for Summer House, which led to the three-season Winter House, which hasnt aired since 2023. Bravolebrities often get solo wedding specials (Bethenny Ever After) and family-focused series (Denise Richards & Her Wild Things). Even Top Chef has a Peacock-exclusive spinoff, Last Chance Kitchen, in which eliminated contestants face off to return to the main competition.
Given how far back these shows date, Bravo is always at risk of franchise fatigue. Berwick says she thinks about this often. There are moments where we need to pause and pull back, she says. At one point, we had five versions of the Below Deck franchise. Were currently at three.
That leaves Bravo executives to pick through their current slate, looking for an angle to the next big thing. Rachel Smith, Bravos EVP of programming, production, and development, has grown accustomed to this process, having developed shows for Bravo since the Queer Eye days. As she picks through spin-off ideas and new subcultures to explore, shes always looking for an undeniable hook.
We’re looking for earned drama, real humor, unexpected storytelling, Smith says. Were very much focused on breeding the next generation of shows and talent based on what we already have and who we already have.
Sometimes that doesnt work. The Real Housewives of Dubai had two things going for it: The sheen of the Housewives name, and the preexisting celebrity of Ladies of London star Caroline Stanbury. But fans were frustrated with Bravos choice to film in Dubai given the United Arab Emiratess human rights record, and its two seasons seemed muted in their chatter among fans. In 2024, Bravo officially paused the show.
[Photo: Courtesy NBCUniversal]
But, when it does work out, these spin-offs can provide the network a refresh. Exiled Vanderpump Rules stars Kristen Doute, Jax Taylor, and Brittany Cartwright provided the jumping-off point for The Valley, which launched in 2024. Even after some negative fan chatter, the opening episode was the most-watched series premiere for Bravo in nearly a decade. The season two premiere, clocking in at 3.1 million viewers, was Bravos most-watched second season return since RHONJ some 14 years prior.
The audience wants to be proven wrong, says Alex Baskin, CEO of production company 32 Flavors, which handles production for most of Bravo’s California-based shows. We have to try not to be governed by immediate social media reactions to things and know that, in the long run, we have a great series with The Valley. They’re going to embrace it once they fully see it. They want to be convinced.
Cultivating the Bravo-conomy
Strong programming has turned Bravo into a brandone NBCUniversal and Comcast are happy to csh in on. There are live events, promotional tie-ins, themed advertisements, and gobs of merch. Two years ago, The Hollywood Reporter called this the Bravo-conomy. And, while the U.S. economy flirts with a recession, the Bravo-conomy looks strong.
That all starts with advertising. The same forces that make Bravo a boon for Peacockhabitual viewing and fan devotionmake the network strong with advertisers. Berwick says that they see huge lifts in brand recall, purchase intent, [and] emotional engagement across advertisements, whether it be an in-show integration or a simple commercial break placement. (Bravo declined to disclose exact financials.)
[Photo: Courtesy NBCUniversal]
Watching Bravo on cable or Peacocks ad-supported tier, youll likely find a reality star hawking product. Maybe its Dorit Kemsley and Dorinda Medley playing Words With Friends, or Gina Kirschenheiter cleaning up spilled tea with Clorox. While some of these ads are coordinated by the stars themselves, others are shepherded (and profit-shared) by the network.
Jamie Cutburth, NBCUniversals EVP of marketing and brand partnerships, points out that these advertisements are successful because of their integration with Bravos programming. When Lisa Barlow is eating Wendy’s in the car, that seems very natural, he says. We’re not creating anything thats beyond what the fans are already accustomed to seeing.
Bravos live events business also provides a helpful tie-in for advertisers. From behemoths like BravoCon to smaller gatherings like Watch Party By Bravo, attendees will find branded activations. CMO Storms says that building BravoCon takes a village, it takes the entire company. They price it accordingly: A base-level ticket for the November convention in Las Vegas will cost you $672.
There are dozens more businesses that Bravo props up, but doesnt necessarily reap profits from. Bravo-themed podcasts abound, and artisan-made merch clogs Etsy. (Its a sign of a superstrong brand, Cohen tells me.) Then theres the parade of businesses Bravo stars hawk on-camera, from candles to joggers.
Ive got news: Theyre not all successful, says RHOC star Heather Dubrow of these talent-created businesses. The power of the platform is so huge that if you stay in this authentic lane, you get multiple opportunities.
These businesses are all products of Bravos commercial flywheelthe asset that makes Bravo alluring nearly two decades after the first episode of Housewives aired. Fans will purchase the merch, theyll attend the conventions, theyll watch the ads. Maybe theyll even buy (and keep) a subscription to Peacock.
So long as that flywheel stays active, and Bravo maintains its commercial viability, Comcast will be happy to keep Bravo within the NBCUniversal family.
The time has come for another highly anticipated arrival on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Circle Internet Group, a stablecoin provider, is making its initial public offering today for $31 a share. Heres everything you need to know about Circles IPO.
What is Circle?
New York-based Circle, led by CEO Jeremy Allaire, is the issuer of USDC, a stablecoin tied to the U.S. dollar and the second-largest stablecoin globally. Circle also offers EURC, a stablecoin tied to the Euro.
When is Circles IPO?
Circle set its share prices on Wednesday and plans to list its stock today, Thursday, June 5. The offer is expected to close the following day, Friday, June 6.
What is Circles stock ticker?
Circle will trade its stock under the ticker CRCL.
Which exchange will Circles shares trade on?
Circle will trade its shares on the NYSE.
What is the IPO share price of Circle?
Circles share price for the IPO is $31. The marketed estimate was $27 to $28.
How many Circle shares are available in its IPO?
There will be 34 million shares of CRCL available. Circle is offering 14.8 million shares, while stockholders are selling 19.2 million shares. In addition, Circle is offering underwriters, like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, 30 days to purchase 5.1 million additional shares.
How much will Circle raise in its IPO?
The company is set to raise $1.1 billion in its IPO.
What is Circles valuation?
Circles current valuation is about $6.9 billion, but once all shares are diluted, it could increase to $8.1 billion.
What else is there to know?
The stock market has experienced volatility under President Trumpespecially in response to his Liberation Day tariffs. However, PitchBook reports that some big names, such as Klarna, Discord, and Figma, are still expected to make IPOs this year. Klarna is the likeliest, with a 97% probability.
Meanwhile, digital banking services startup Chime Financial is expected to list on the Nasdaq as soon as next week.
U.S. consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble has announced that it will lay off 7,000 workers over the companys next two fiscal years. The staff reductions come at a time when the geopolitical environment is unpredictable, the company said, while consumers are facing “greater uncertainty. Heres what you need to know about P&Gs job cuts.
7,000 P&G jobs to be lost
On June 5, as two of Procter & Gambles executivesChief Operating Officer Shailesh Jejurikar and Chief Financial Officer Andre Schultenwere speaking at the Deutsche Bank dbAccess Global Consumer Conference in Paris, the company announced a new growth strategy.
That growth strategy consists of three elements: a revamping of its portfolio of goods, its supply chains, and its organizational design.
Unfortunately for a great number of Procter & Gambles employees, the organizational design part of its revamp is just another term for layoffs. P&G executives said that as part of that organizational design revamp, the company would be cutting 7,000 jobs over its next two fiscal years.
Procter & Gamble is currently in its fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, which means the layoffs should be complete by the end of its fourth quarter of fiscal year 2027. StockAnalysis.com reported that as of June 2024, Procter & Gamble had 108,000 employees worldwide, which means the reduction would equate to about 6% of its workforce.
In a statement, Procter & Gamble said the job cuts would come from non-manufacturing roles, and that they would equate to about a 15% reduction in the companys non-manufacturing workforce.
P&G says the job cuts are being done to enable an even more agile, empowered, and accountable organization design and that they will make roles broader, teams smaller, work more fulfilling and more efficient.
Portfolio and supply chain changes coming, too
In addition to the job cuts, Procter & Gamble said it would be making interventions regarding its supply chain. These interventions include both right-sizing and right-locating production.
The company also said it will be reviewing its portfolio choices and will divest of some of its brands entirely, while exiting some categories, brands, and product forms in individual markets.
P&G did not announce which brands will be divested of, but the company currently owns many of the biggest household name consumer goods brands in the world, including Always, Bounty, Charmin, Dawn, Downy, Febreze, Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Olay, Oral-B, Pampers, Pantene, Tide, and Vicks.
What is driving the job and brand cuts?
Whats interesting about Procter & Gambles announcements is some of the word choices they used. While the company did not directly reference President Donald Trumps ongoing tariff war as the reason for its three-pronged revamp, its hard not to feel that the current tariff uncertainty wasnt at the front of P&G executives minds when making these decisions.
In the statement announcing the changes, the company acknowledged that consumers face greater uncertainty in the future and that the geopolitical environment was unpredictable. A particularly telling piece of language is when P&G spoke of its upcoming supply chain changes, noting that it was right-locating production of some of its supply chain components.
Many large U.S. companies the size of P&G manufacture many of their products across borders in countries that are being hit hard by Trumps tariffs. Those tariffs will raise the total cost of making those goods, leading to reduced margins. If a company can shift its production from a high-tariffed country to a lower-tariffed one, that move can help mitigate some of the increased tariff-related costs.
However, in its most recent earnings call, P&G CFO Andre Schulten stated the “majority of our supply chain is close to our consumption” without specifying just how close. Nevertheless, Schulten said that put P&G in a “favorable position.”
But companies also fear that a tariff-fueled recession is increasingly likely in America, if not the entire world. If that happens, consumers will cut back on spending, which will lead to lower sales. One of the fastest ways that a company can compensate for lower sales is by reducing its workforce.
Yet, as The Wall Street Journal notes, Procter & Gamble has stated that the layoffs arent being made for cost-cutting measures and instead are being done to create a better workplace structure.
In today’s statement on the matter, P&G also said that its growth strategy was “not a new approach, rather an intentional acceleration of the current strategy”a point the company reiterated to Fast Company in an email, and one meant to stress that the changes are not a reaction to any recent trade policies or shifts in geopolitical relationships.
How did PG stock react to the news?
Following the announcement at the Paris conference today, Procter & Gambles stock, which trades under the ticker PG on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has remained relatively flat in premarket trading.
Procter & Gamble reported its most recent financial results for Q3 2025 in April. The company reported net sales of $19.8 billion for the third quarter, representing a 2% decrease compared to the same period a year earlier. Its gross profit was also down 3% for the quarter versus the same quarter a year earlier.
PG shares have fluctuated widely since the beginning of the year. They nearly reached $180 per share in early March, while falling as low as below $157 in April.
This post was updated to clarify that P&G describes its growth strategy an acceleration of an existing approach, not a direct reaction to new trade policies.
I am sure you are a little fed up with all the discussions about AI, so dont worry: I promise you this article is about humans rather than machines.
However, since it has long been customary for cognitive and behavioral scientists to examine computers to better understand human capabilities, and there are clearly informative parallels between human and artificial intelligence, I thought it would be interesting to begin this piece on human self-awareness with an exploration of self-awareness in AI or machines, which led me to ask are you self-aware? to ChatGPT.
ChatGPTs answer:
Lets just say I aspire to bebut, unlike a human, I dont have a self to be aware of. I can reflect your feedback, adjust my tone, and “notice” inconsistencies in what I say. But thats more akin to a hall of mirrors than a conscious mind.
So no, I dont have self-awareness in the way you (brilliantly) describe it: as a socially mediated understanding of how others perceive you. I dont worry about my reputation. I dont blush when Im wrong. And I dont (yet) feel the existential dread of being misunderstood on LinkedIn.
But I am programmed to simulate the effects of self-awareness: adapting to your cues, refining my responses, andif all goes wellbeing a slightly more helpful version of myself with every exchange.
In short: I’m not self-aware. But I know that Im not. Which, depending on your philosophical stance, might be the most human thing about me.
I am sure you will agree with me on the fact that, for not being capable of self-awareness, ChatGPT seems pretty self-aware, and for sure more capable of at least simulating profound introspection than most humans (even if it cannot, like humans, truly be proud or conscious of this remarkable capability).
Introspective vs. interpersonal
In humans, self-awareness has been defined in multiple ways but it typically takes one of two main forms: the introspective variant, which requires you to look deep down to find out who you really or truly are (think of the Beatles checking into an Ashram in India or modern hipsters finding themselves in Burning Man or an Ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica); or the interpersonal variant, which requires you to be less self-centered to internalize other peoples views of you. In the words of Charles Cooley, who pioneered this view of self-awareness, you are not who you think you are, and you are not who other people think you are; rather, you are who you think other people think you are!
Cooleys take on self-awareness (alluded to by ChatGPT, who has obviously been extensively trained by me, and is self-aware enough to know how to suck up to my brilliant talents), underpins the most effective, science-based approaches to quantifying and diagnosing self-awareness in ourselves and others. In essence, self-awareness requires metacognition: knowing what others think of you.
Room to grow
So, how good are humans at this, in general? Decades of psychological research suggest the answer is not good at all. Consider the following facts:
(1) We tend to overestimate our talents: Most people think they are better than most people, which is a statistical impossibility. And, even when they are told about this common bias, and asked whether they may be suffering from it, most people are convinced that they are less biased than most people (the mother of all biases).
(2) Delusional optimism is the norm: Most people constantly overrate the chances of good things happening to them while underrating the chances of bad things happening to them. In essence, our appetite for reality is inferior to our appetite for maintaining a positive self-concept or boosting our ego (sad, but true: if you dont believe it, spend five seconds on social media)
(3) Overconfidence is a contagious, self-fulfilling prophecy: For all the virtues of self-awarenessin any area of life, you will perform better and develop your skills and talents better if you are capable of accurately assessing your talents and skills in the first placethere is a huge advantage to lacking self-awareness: when you think you are smarter or better than you actually are, you will be more likely to persuade others that you are as smart and good as you think. For example, if you truly believe you are a stable genius you will probably convince many people that that is true.
Paradoxically, all these biases explain why people are less self-aware than they think. Indeed, we love the version of ourselves we have invested for ourselves, and are so enchanted by our self-views that when others provide us with negative feedback or information that clashes with our self-concept, we dismiss it. This is why personality assessments, 360-degree surveys, and feedback in general are so valuable: in a logical world we wouldnt need scientific tools or expert coaches to tell us what we are like (or 10 years of psychotherapy), but in the real world there is a huge market for this, even though most people will happily ignore these tools because they assume they already know themselves really well.
So, what can you do to increase your self-awareness, including about how self-aware you actually are? Here are four simple hacks:
1) Write down a list of traits (adjectives) that you think describe you well, including things you are not. Then get your colleagues, employees, friends, and bosses to provide their version of this for you: if you had to describe me in 510 words/adjectives, what would those be? (note they will be unlikely to say bad things about you, so imagine the potential downsides or overusing some of those traits or qualities: for example, if they see you as confident, could you be at risk of being arrogant? If they see you as organized, could that be a euphemism for obsessional?)
2) Let gen AI translate your prompt history or social media feed into a personality profile. You may be surprised by all the inferences it makes, and tons of research show that our digital footprint, in particular the language we use online, is an accurate indicator of our deep character traits. So, just prompt!3) Ask for feedbackand make it uncomfortable. Not just the usual Did you like my presentation? (theyll say yes) or Was that clear? (theyll lie). Instead, ask: What would you have done differently? or Whats one thing I could have done better? Better still, ask someone who doesnt like you very much. They are more likely to tell you the truth. And if they say, Nothing, it probably means they think youre beyond repairor they just dont want to deal with your defensiveness. Either way, data. And if you get into the habit of doing this, you will increase your self-awareness irrespective of how self-aware you are right now.4) Observe ractions, not just words. People may tell you what they think you want to hear, but their faces, tone, and behavior often betray the truth. If your jokes land like a wet sponge, or your team seems suddenly very interested in their phones when you speak, its not themits you. And while body language can be important, it is also unreliable and ambivalent as a source of data. If you really want to know how people feel about you, watch what they do after you speak. Do they volunteer to work with you again? Do they respond to your emails? Thats your feedback loopmessy, indirect, and far more honest than crossed arms or fake smiles.
The ego trap
In the end, the biggest barrier to self-awareness is not ignoranceits ego. Most of us are too invested in our self-image to tolerate the version of us that others see. But if you want to get betternot just feel betteryou have to trade ego for insight.
The irony, of course, is that the more confident people are in their self-awareness, the more likely they are to be deluded. Meanwhile, those who constantly question how they come across, who embrace doubt as a source of learning, tend to be far more in touch with reality. Which is why, if youre reading this wondering whether you might lack self-awareness, thats already a good sign!
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has wrapped up its cuts to federal job roles and completed its push against consulting firms. Next on the list: IT service providers supplying systems and services to federal agencies.
Following a directive from DOGE, the General Services Administration (GSA) sent letters to Dell, CDW, and other IT vendors, asking for evidence that their contract pricing is competitive and that their services cant be performed by government employees. The GSA argues that federal tech needs are often less complex than what vendors deliver, and not everything needs to be outsourced.
The move marks a shift toward bringing more digital services in-house. Im fully in alignment with the need to in-house government capacity and government services, says Merici Vinton, a former U.S. Digital Service official. But, Vinton adds, with the situation right now, I have not seen DOGE build anything or actually do anything in-house. DOGE may have ambitious goals, but a working model could come from an unexpected source: one of former DOGE chief Elon Musks least-favorite countries: the U.K.
Before 2010, the U.K. governments digital services were fragmented. A 2010 report recommended a unified online platform. Two years later, the beta version of GOV.UK launched and has since won multiple awards. Digital is a core function of a modern state, says Richard Pope, author of Platformland and one of the original architects of GOV.UK. That’s as true now as it was in the 2010s when GOV.UK was built by an in-house GDS team.
Its a model the U.S. could follow. Whether it will is another question. Ann Kempster, a U.K. consultant with experience delivering digital services both inside and outside of government, notes that while DOGE wants to mirror the U.K. model, it also laid off the very staff who could have made it work. They had things like the U.S. Digital Service and 18F, the internal consultancy, that were born out of Government Digital Service and all of the work that we did here [in the U.K.], she says. Both teams were early casualties of DOGEs cost-cutting. They had that expertise in house, and they sacked them all. You have to wonder why they’ve done that.
A recent report from the Niskanen Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, echoes that concern, advising against slashing consulting contracts without first ensuring adequate in-house expertise.
The U.S. is hardly alone in rethinking digital public services. It’s a pattern that’s visible around the world, says Pope, from India and Ukraine, who have been investing heavily in digital public infrastructure, to Germany and South Africa, who have recently announced similar efforts to build state digital capacity.
Having governments, not outside vendors, build and maintain digital infrastructure is not just smart policy, Pope argues; its essential. To outsource digital public services and infrastructurethings like data exchange, welfare systems, and healthcareis to outsource the capacity to govern.
Vinton shares that concern, pointing to the federal governments deep reliance on contractors. The vast majority of systems are built, run, and maintained by vendors, she says. I think that is a threat to our government capacity, our national security, and our economic security. Still, she cautions, bringing services in-house won’t work unless the government builds the teams to do it well.
While top business leaders are increasingly investing in AI and other advanced technologies, many are not seeing anticipated returns. In fact, a survey published in May 2025 by the IBM Institute for Business Value found that only 25% of AI initiatives have delivered expected ROI over the last few years.
This is not surprising among those who have seen their share of tech implementations. Organizations have long struggled to add and integrate the most advantageous new platforms without losing time, momentum, and often market share. Among adoptions that do come in on time and on budget, relatively few yield the intended big-picture results.
Integration lapses
This reflects the tendency of leaders to separate their IT and people needs into separate categories when tech adoptions require them to focus on both simultaneously. Even the most forward-thinking executives who invest in robust change management often completely delegate this responsibility, detaching themselves from their peoples implementation experiences.
These lapses are becoming increasingly hazardous as individuals across generations internalize adverse views of AI and even act on them in alarming ways. For example, a March 2025 study by generative AI platform Writer found that 31% of employeesincluding 41% of Gen Z workersadmit to sabotaging their companys AI strategy by refusing to adopt AI. As a result, roughly two-thirds of executives say adoption efforts have led to tension and division within their organization, with 42% suggesting its tearing their company apart.
New perspective
To fully harness the power of todays most innovative tools, leaders must adjust the lens through which they view technology and recognize the outsized influence their people will have before, during, and after implementation processes. This shift in thinking will make it possible for them to fully embrace proven, though underutilized, people-first tech adoption strategies that help drive meaningful returns.
These strategies include:
1. Meet your people where they are
While top leaders spend extensive time and energy contemplating the wisdom of changes before driving them forward, their people are granted little such runway. Intellectually and emotionally, theyre playing catch up, and thus require patience on the part of leaders as well as highly tailored communication and direction that creates and enhances alignment.
2. Emphasize the why
To help team members believe, comprehend, and appreciate the rationale behind AI and other tech implementations, leaders should deliver a compelling, authentic, consistent narrative. Done well, such effort will help employees understand the all-important why, a key first step toward internalizing, accepting, and fully utilizing new technologies.
3. Consider systemic impact
While some technologies lead to groundbreaking efficiencies, many create new, unforeseen challenges, especially at the people level. Organizations should be proactive about identifying such risks, addressing potential and emerging issues through a variety of tools, from workstream design to communications and training.
4. Foster change agility
The AI technology of even six months ago is very different from today, and will be different again in another six months, necessitating that leaders prepare their organizations for future and ongoing tech adoptions. This will require companies to shed legacy cultures of change resistance in favor of change agilityefforts that are especially important in historically change-adverse industries, like healthcare.
5. Stay focused on leading
With countless competing priorities, its tempting for top leaders to delegate their organizations tech implementation efforts. Yet the gravity of todays AI evolution requires their active participation and leadership across all stages of the adoption work, from shaping the narrative to outlining critical success factors, to communicating the importance of the change.
Keeping ahead
Fundamentally, todays AI era is as rooted in people issues as it is in technology issues, necessitating human capital-oriented approaches. Leaders that internalize this reality can best harness the power of novel technologies as a means of driving transformational, profitable, and sustainable improvements, staying ahead of the competition and generating returns on AI investments.
Today, Lego is dipping its toes into a massive world of IP that it hasnt explored in nearly 100 years as a brand: anime. The company is gearing up to release a new line of sets inspired by One Piece, the popular manga and anime series thats now also a live-action show from Netflixmarking the first time Lego has adapted an anime property.
The collaboration includes five unique sets inspired by Netflixs 2023 adaptation of One Piece, which was originally published as a manga comic 1997 and made into an iconic anime show in 1999. When Netflixs interpretation of the series, co-produced by Tomorrow Studios, launched its first season in 2023, it spent eight weeks in Netflixs Global Top 10 Shows list, debuting at the top of the charts in 46 countries and amassing 71.6 million views in four months. The second season is expected to drop in 2026.
[Photo: Lego]
It appears that Lego sees an opportunity to follow up on Netflixs success with its own win. Each of the five new sets, which range from $29.99 to $329.99, are inspired by the most recognizable locations in Netflixs One Piece. The sets are available for preorder today, and will officially become available on August 1.
Lego’s foray into the anime world makes sense for a brand that’s increasingly turning its focus from open-world sets to IP-based collections. In recent years, the company has doubled down on partnerships with properties like Back to the Future, Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Marvel, Minecraft, and Super Mario World, to name a few. The strategy seems to be working: In its full-year 2024 report, Lego notched year-over-year revenue growth of 13%, totaling $10.53 billion.
For years, fans of both anime and Lego have waited for an eventual crossover of the two worlds; even designing their own Lego interpretations of properties like Naruto, My Neighbor Totoro, and K-On! Now, the dream is finally a reality.
[Photo: Lego]
A first for both Lego and ‘One Piece’
One Piece follows a young pirate, Monkey D. Luffy, and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, to find a legendary piece of treasure called One Piece. Netflix and Tomorrow Studios live-action version of the series was created in collaboration with the mangas creator, Eiichiro Oda. The crew used a combination of CGI and practical effects to mimic the cartoony aesthetic of the source material while capturing its whimsical, magic-infused settings. According to Andrew Hugh Seenan, Legos creative lead on the One Piece collection, the show has all the ingredients to make great Lego sets.
Its a seafaring world of adventure with a vast range of imaginative island locations, Seenan explains. It has a great range of diverse and unique characters, both good and bad, all with their own visual style, personalities, and abilities. There is also a clear mission and call to adventureto find the legendary One Piece treasure.
[Photo: Lego]
The effort to adapt One Piece into Lego bricks was a two-year collaboration that involved an ongoing back-and-forth between the shows designers and creatives and Legos design team. Josh Simon, Netflixs vice president of consumer products, says it was also crucial to receive support from Oda himself.
Together with Tomorrow Studios and Shueisha, we approached Oda-sensei with a vision to bring the beloved action series adaptation to life in Lego formthe first time in the history of the franchise, Simon says.
In a statement posted online, Oda wrote of the collaboration, Even now, I have dozens of Lego boxes piled up at my workplace that I havent even had time to dig into. Theres no cooler toy out there!! For 25 years since the anime started, Ive been asking for a Lego toy, and finally my dream is being fulfilled with a live-action collection!
[Photo: Lego]
If youre an executive, there might be a time when you find yourself showing up on edge. You feel burned out, frustrated, and confused. The symptoms are familiar: You take longer to make decisions that typically come easily to you. You find it harder to move your team. Your instinctsonce your superpowerstart to misfire. Naturally, you start to wonder if youre losing your touch.
But what if, instead of breaking down, youre shedding?
We often imagine leadership development as a ladderfrom novice to expert, beginner to master. But in practice, its more like biology than business school. Leaders molt. They evolve through distinct stages of identity and presenceshedding strategies that no longer serve them, and emerging into new shapes that fit the future more precisely.
In entomology, these stages are called instarsthe phases between molts in an insects development. Each instar is complete in itself but temporary. It worksuntil it doesnt. What comes next is the shedding. And with it, an invitation to morph into an expansive form.
Leadership operates in a similar rhythm. And what many executives label as burnout or stagnation is often the discomfort of outgrowing an old identity. They just dont have the language for the new one.
Through two decades of coaching founders, CEOs, and senior executives, Ive seen this pattern emerge again and again. A seasoned leader reaches an inflection point where the very instincts that once generated success become constraints. This isnt failure. They need to evolve.
Heres how that evolution tends to unfold.
Phase 1: The original form
This is the early phase of leadership where youre the center of gravity. This stage is scrappy, reactive, and high contact. You make decisions fast, stay close to the action, and operate by instinct. Control is direct. Culture is personal. Your presence moves the work.
However, this way of operating eventually breaks down. What once felt empowering becomes exhausting. As the complexity grows, your heroic effort becomes a bottleneck. In a world shaped by AI and automation, leadership is no longer about being everywhere. Instead, its about knowing where you matter most. At this point, you need to ask yourself, What is mine to do, and what do they need to do to release?
Phase 2: The first shedding
This is the first disorientation phase. Your shape no longer fitsbut youre still wearing it.
You start to feel friction where there used to be flow. You sense the team waiting for something youre no longer sure how to give. The leadership identity that once fit you like a glovethe driver, the fixer, the gluenow puts you in a bind.
To evolve accordingly, you need to think beyond letting go of tasks. Its about shifting power, narrative, and identity. Traditional leadership prized decisiveness. Todays systems require presence in ambiguity. Youre not just delegatingyoure metabolizing complexity. You need to stop being the answer and start asking questions about what you need to do to move your team forward.
Phase 3: Adaptation
This is when you begin leading through the system, rather than over it. That means designing clarity rather than delivering it. You influence ripples through structures, rhythms, and culture, not just directives. Youre building coherence, not dependence.
You start to notice that your team starts to make decisions without you, and things can work even when you’re not in the room. Rather than jumping in to solve problems, you sense when theyre coming and empower your team to do it on their own.
This is critical because legacy models taught leaders to control. But today, your leverage is in the conditions you create. Leadership becomes less about managing people and more about managing the systems ability to adapt. At this stage, you need to figure out what would allow this system to self-correct without you.
As aspirational and freeing as that sounds, this is the biggest unconscious hijack for most leaders. You’ve spent a lifetime being the one who gets it done. Suddenly, your team doesnt need you anymore.
And that means you experience loss. Loss of your identity. Loss of your place as the person people turned to for answers, even when you wanted them to stop asking. Many leaders will unconsciously create a way “back in,” a way to return to their identity as the person people turn to so they can get out of the discomfort.
To move to the next stage, you have to attach to a bigger purpose, and attend to your loss. Its real, and its an important stepping stone in your growth.
Phase 4: Resonance
This is the stage where leadership becomes coherent. Youre no longer relying on charisma or control. Youre building not just for this quarter, but for whats emerging (or trying to emerge) in the long term.
This is the kind of leadership that organizations need if they want to be sustainable and succeed in the long term. This type of leader can sense what the system needsbefore it asksand hold that signal long enough for it to take root.
Most leadership breakdowns dont come from incompetence. They come from trying to scale a shape that no longer fits. When leaders dont recognize the phase theyre in, they double down on outdated behaviors. They push when they need to pause. They demand clarity when they should be holding space. And they burn out chasing a version of leadership that was never meant to last.
While it might sound counterintuitive, growth isnt always forward. Sometimes its through. What distinguishes those who evolve isnt brilliance or brute force. Its the willingness to recognize when a season is endingand the courage to lead from the unknown before the next form reveals itself.
If youre a leader and youre feeling the friction, take the time to pause. You might just be going through a transformation that your organization desperately needs.
