Tracy Connor

Standards editor at Business Insider. Alum of The Daily Beast, NBC, NYDN, NYP, UPI. Graduate of Coney Island Sideshow School. Sassy dame.

[Rya Jetha @ryajetha]

Scoop! Sam Altman is backing a stealth startup that’s raising at a $40 million valuation to build software for robots and cars.

Founders are former Tesla and Meta Reality Labs employees. Cofounder Ankit Ukil said he and Altman initially bonded over their love of cars. 🏎️

With @CharlesRollet1

[Rya Jetha @ryajetha]

The seller of a $2.9 million San Francisco home is accepting payment in Anthropic or OpenAI stock.
The listing went live <24 hrs ago, and the agent's phone has been blowing up since, per @thebenbergman

[Charles Rollet @CharlesRollet1]

NEW: "I got drafted."

Meta staff are feeling a mix of dread and confusion at being transferred to Zuck's new AI task force.

The move is being pitched internally as a big opportunity.

But a major part of the job involves data labeling, drawing Scale AI comparisons.

[Tracy Connor @TracyConnor]

@benfritz The one person I know it's not is Mark Cuban. https://t.co/snNmj7YdeG

[Nathan McAlone @nmcalone]

Scoop from @JamesFaris_: Paramount's tech chief is leaving after 7 years https://t.co/SCxzCtvuAV

[Stephen Council @stephencouncil]

I've reported on Sam Altman since ChatGPT's release, so I was eager to see his trial testimony in his fight with Elon Musk.

Altman defended his company, and hyped up the promise of AI. But during a strange, tense stretch, he struggled to defend himself: https://t.co/Y3qxb5cs2k

[Tracy Connor @TracyConnor]

@PranavDixit @aaja @BusinessInsider @JamieHeller @LeenaRao @alistairmbarr @rosaliechan17 Well deserved!

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯ @PranavDixit]

I am thrilled to announce that I won the Asian American Journalists Association's 2026 Journalism Excellence Award for Excellence in Business and Tech Reporting!

A big thanks to @aaja and my @BusinessInsider editors @JamieHeller, @LeenaRao, @alistairmbarr, @rosaliechan17, and @srussolillo.

https://t.co/2mbJcdUK6E

[Charles Rollet @CharlesRollet1]

EXCLUSIVE: A third of Thinking Machines Lab's founding team has now left Mira Murati's buzzy AI startup.

Last year, TML seemed like an impenetrable fortress, with staff resisting Zuck's 9-figure offers.

So what changed?

Their equity vested.

[Tracy Connor @TracyConnor]

Business Insider reporter @kelseyvlamis is covering short-seller Andrew Left’s securities trial. (She tells me he was all smiles as jury selection started.) Follow her for developments and read this story from @SamuelCObrient on what it's all about. https://t.co/lKftoGlP6Z

[Stephen Council @stephencouncil]

New: Before ChatGPT's release, before Microsoft's $1 billion bet, and long before plans for an IPO, there was the University of Michigan — putting $20 million into OpenAI.

The possible $2 billion payday would equal about a tenth of @UMich's current endowment.

[Business Insider Press Room @BIPressRoom]

.@businessinsider has won a 2026 @NYPressClub award for @NSheidlower's "80 Over 80" series. https://t.co/24qBvJqg1B

Explore the series: https://t.co/sjXnj1eoY9

[Robert Scammell @RobertScammell]

Another scoop from @HughLangley 👇

[Tracy Connor @TracyConnor]

@JayShams ‼️

[Katie Notopoulos @katienotopoulos]

This @lmoses story is insane: some of those crummy microdramas you see on TikTok are using AI to put the actors into nude or sex scenes they didn't film and didn't agree to

[Charles Rollet @CharlesRollet1]

BREAKING: OpenAI just lost its head of private equity to Google.

Both companies are aggressively selling their AI models to PE.

[Business Insider Press Room @BIPressRoom]

.@BusinessInsider joins @OneFreePress to stand up for journalists that are being imprisoned for pursuing the truth. #OneFreePress

Read more on the 10 most urgent cases here from @nmcalone: https://t.co/DxJ7xQB9A7

[Neal Mohan @nealmohan]

Creators are, and always will be, at the core of everything we do. They are the new stars and studios, redefining entertainment and building next-generation media companies.

At last week’s @YouTube Creator Summit in Ojai, we brought our creator community together to share ideas, learn from each other, and talk about the future of the creator economy.

Thank you to every creator who joined us and to the YouTube team who pulled together an inspiring summit.

[James Faris @JamesFaris_]

SCOOP: @Disney is cutting the stock-based compensation that some tech employees can earn.

"There's no way to sugarcoat it — this is a reduction in your total compensation," a director told an employee, per a recording I got.

Read more @BusinessInsider: https://t.co/l5VqmcEXjJ

[Charles Rollet @CharlesRollet1]

SCOOP: Meta isn't ruling out further layoffs, its HR chief Janelle Gale just told staff.

Meta also said AI token usage would not be considered as a factor for deciding who gets laid off first.