Ford's $30,000 EV truck is under wraps. Its camouflage is an ad.

Ford's all-important EV pickup truck has donned camouflage during public outings. The sneaky attire includes a QR for a hidden website landing page.

Ford

• Ford's EV truck has been wearing camo during public testing.
• That outfit had a QR code which brings curious onlookers to a product announcement site.
• Ford's truck is the start to the company's next big EV bet.

Ford has been camouflaging its coming $30,000 EV pickup during public testing. Turns out, the going-out attire is intentionally revealing.

Photos and videos of the disguised truck have circulated widely online in recent weeks. And some of Ford's wraps have obscured the truck's body lines with a jumble of dogs, sailboats, soccer balls, heart emojis — and tiny QR codes.

Scanning one sends curious onlookers to an official Ford webpage that declares, "Congrats, You Spotted a Unicorn." There, the automaker shows clearer footage of the pickup undergoing snow testing and moving through production, while inviting visitors to sign up for updates.

"Chances are, you saw something on the road that piqued your interest, and you're here because you're curious," Alan Clarke, Ford's vice president of advanced development projects, says in a video at the top of the site. "This website will be your exclusive insight into our progress."

The camouflage is doing two jobs at once: concealing the big-bet truck's final shape and helping Ford build an audience before it officially pulls back the covers.

An EV recharge

Ford discontinued the all-electric F-150 Lightning after sales never reached the company's 150,000 unit-per-year goal.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

There is plenty riding on the truck underneath.

The so-far unnamed EV (though rumors and patent applications suggest Ford may be resurrecting the Ranchero nameplate) is scheduled to reach customers next year. It's a big reset for the legendary automaker.

Around 2020, Ford had high hopes for its first generation of mass-market EVs, including the F-150 Lightning, a full-size electric pickup that started at mid-$50,000. Ahead of its launch, Ford touted nearly 200,000 reservations and set a goal of eventually building 150,000 electric trucks a year.

Sales peaked in 2024 at 33,510 vehicles, falling far short of Ford's early ambitions. The automaker ended production of the original Lightning in late 2025 and recorded $19.5 billion in charges tied to its broader EV restructuring.

As its initial EV plans faltered, Ford assembled a roughly 350-person California skunkworks team led by Clarke to develop a cheaper and more efficient generation of electric vehicles, called the universal EV platform. The group focused on faster manufacturing, more aerodynamic designs, and dramatically fewer parts.

The camouflaged pickup will be the first test of that strategy. Ford says it can build up to eight different vehicles on the same battery infrastructure.

A tricky EV market with new contenders

Ford's EV comes as it tries to ward off Chinese EV-makers. Other American startups, like the Slate Truck pictured above, are entering the fray as well.

Ben Shimkus/Business Insider

Ford's lower-cost EV push is taking shape as a new crop of challengers reaches the US market.

Slate, a Jeff Bezos-backed startup, told Business Insider that the first units of its $24,950 electric pickup will reach customers this year. Fiat has also brought the sub-$15,000 Topolino to the US, although the tiny EV is closer to a golf cart than a daily driver.

And the greatest threat may be overseas.

BYD became the world's largest seller of battery-electric vehicles last year, reaffirming the pressure Chinese automakers are placing on established car companies. Ford CEO Jim Farley has repeatedly praised Chinese EVs for their technology, affordability, and build quality.

When Ford unveiled its Universal EV Platform in 2025, Farley framed the project as a response to competitors attacking the industry from several directions.

"We knew that the Chinese would be the major player for us globally, companies like BYD, new startups from around the world," he said in 2025. "Big technology has their ambition in the auto space. They're all coming for us, legacy automotive companies."

Read the original article on Business Insider

from Business Insider https://ift.tt/sTBd81h

The World Cup is turning Erling Haaland's style into big business

Erling Haaland is known for his style both on and off the pitch.

David Jensen/Getty Images, Vittorio Zunino Celotto/GC Images, Harry Langer/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images

• Erling Haaland, who plays for Norway, is one of the most talked-about soccer players right now.
• The hair-tie brand Haaland has worn for years launched a sold-out partnership.
• His love of rare Hermès bags taps into menswear's growing embrace of traditionally feminine items.

The internet can't get enough of Erling Haaland.

The 6-foot-5, 25-year-old Norwegian striker has gained over 11 million followers on Instagram since Sunday, when he scored twice to secure Norway's victory against Brazil in the World Cup. While many of his new followers are clearly there for the football, others may well be there for the fashion and his quirky posts.

Haaland regularly posts his outfits on Instagram — $1,800 Loewe Tracksuit jackets, black Chanel cashmere beanies (selling on resale websites for over $1,200), and a constant flow of rare Hermès bags. And he's gained the attention of fashion editors for his style on and off the pitch, whether that's matching the hair ties on his blond man bun or being photographed at runway shows.

His star power is so great that Norway's national football jerseys have sold out ahead of the England vs Norway match on Saturday, the Norwegian Football Association told the BBC, and are now being resold on websites like StockX for over $400.

Brands are taking note.

"His brand value is already spiking during the tournament and is very likely to accelerate further after the World Cup," Scott Kerr, founder of luxury consultancy firm Silvertone Consulting, told Business Insider.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Erling Braut Haaland (@erling)

Sold-out hair tie collab

Fashion brands are starting to reap the rewards of Haaland's high visibility.

Kknekki, an Oslo-based hair tie brand that launched a limited-edition collection with Haaland to coincide with the World Cup, said the collection sold out within weeks of launch.

Haaland had worn Kknekki hair ties for several years before becoming an investor in the brand's parent company, Bon Dep, in 2024. The size of his stake has not been disclosed.

"The collaboration was a natural extension of a relationship that has developed over several years," a spokesperson for Bon Dep said. "The collection was intentionally produced as a highly limited edition and saw exceptional demand from launch," they added.

Bon Dep credits Haaland with boosting global awareness for the Kknekki brand.

When Kknekki posted a reel of the Haaland collaboration on Instagram, the account gained 4,000 new followers in a single day, according to the social media analytics website Social Blade.

While its core audience has traditionally been women and girls, Erling's long-standing use of hair ties has played a big role in attracting male customers to the brand, the spokesperson said.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Norwegian (@flynorwegian)

"He's landing in a moment where menswear is getting more comfortable with 'traditionally feminine' luxury objects, and he's basically become a walking case study for that shift," Blanca Zugaza Escribano, a fashion and luxury strategy consultant at Metyis, told Business Insider.

Anja, a soccer fan from Germany, told Business Insider that she bought the Haaland-branded hair ties after seeing them on his Instagram.

"I've liked Haaland as a person and as a footballer since 2020," Anja said. "I'd seen it on his Instagram channel and ordered it straight away, as I have long hair too and wanted to give it a go."

A pack of 8 of these limited-edition hair ties costs £21 ($30). They have started to pop up on resale websites, with some sold on AliExpress for $90, though it's unclear whether these are genuine.

Haaland sometimes lets his hair loose during matches, a look that has become a favorite among soccer fans online.

Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images

Swapping sports bags for Birkins

Off the pitch, Haaland has a love for luxury, especially the Hermès Haut à Courroies (HAC) travel bags.

He has been spotted on numerous occasions with different versions of these bags in tow. This includes the black Multipocket HAC 50, which costs about $80,000 on luxury resale website Wardrobe by Rebecca, and the Evercalf Toile Cargo HAC 40, which costs about $75,000 on Vestiaire Collective.

He arrived on the Norwegian national team jet to Greensboro, North Carolina, for training camp at the start of the World Cup, carrying the rare Hermès HAC Birkin 50 "Endless Road," which costs $45,000 at the luxury resale store Madison Avenue Couture.

Haaland pictured with a Hermès HAC Birkin 50 "Endless Road" bag when getting off the plane for training camp in June.

David Jensen/Getty Images

Searches for "Hermès HAC 50" were virtually zero in the US until June, when it became a breakout query on Google Search.

Kerr said Haaland's appeal comes from the contrast between his ruthless competitiveness on the field and his playful, low-ego personality off it — a quality that aligns with Hermès.

"Hermès has been known to lean into playfulness and quiet humor, even though the overall brand carries a very serious aura of craftsmanship and restraint," Kerr said.

A spokesperson for Hermes declined to comment on whether Haaland has invested or collaborated with the brand.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Erling Braut Haaland (@erling)

Shoe-wise, he often sports white Nike Air Force Ones and Jordans, as well as high-end shoes like the $1,125 black Hermès Chypre sandal.

He has also been spotted with Louis Vuitton bags and Goyard suitcases.

"I think a number of brands can benefit from aligning with Haaland. It all depends which of his archetypes these brands want to lean into," Kerr said.

"The explosive performance hero type? The goofy, meme-friendly jester type? The Nordic understated loyal everyman type? Or the stylish new lux masculine type? He has mastered them all," he added.

Read the original article on Business Insider

from Business Insider https://ift.tt/WLQbMBy

One chart shows why even non-tech job seekers should get comfortable with AI

Employers want AI knowledge in jobs outside software development.

Luis Alvarez/Getty Images

• A new analysis of job postings showed demand for AI knowledge goes beyond software development gigs.
• Management and marketing roles are among those making up a higher share of "AI-touched" job titles than a few years ago.
• It suggests employers want people with expertise in their line of work and additional AI fluency.

If you've been avoiding AI, it might be time to get familiar with what it can do in the workplace.

The share of Indeed job postings containing AI terms has skyrocketed over the past year. And job titles mentioning AI aren't limited to just tech.

A new analysis from Pawel Adrjan, senior director of economic research for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at the Indeed Hiring Lab, examined "AI-touched" job titles, defined as those with at least five postings mentioning AI in the title in a specific quarter.

The analysis indicates the number of those titles has risen in the US from 264 in 2022, or 2.6% of titles with at least five job postings, to 822 in the first quarter of 2026, or 8.3%.

Sixty-three percent of AI-touched US job titles were non-tech. Software development accounted for the highest share of AI-touched job titles in the first quarter of 2026, as in 2022, but the share has declined as some other types of occupations have added AI to their titles.

Management, marketing, education, and instruction are among the occupational categories that have increased their share. That means employers are seeking people with both field and AI knowledge; a physical therapist using AI for documentation would still need to be skilled at helping patients while also familiar with the new systems.

In an interview with Business Insider, Adrjan compared this expansion of AI demand in the workforce to the previous broadening of computer skills beyond IT jobs.

"One pattern that stands out is that many of the roles with AI in the title are jobs that have existed for decades," Adrjan's report said. "Employers are not only hiring AI specialists, but they are also adding AI to the titles of jobs where the use of AI tools is required — an indication of how AI is already reshaping jobs."

Some examples include "AI Autonomous Truck Test Driver," "Physical Therapist (AI Documentation)," "AI Project Engineer," and "Electrical Engineer — Battery Systems for AI Data Centers."

How do you feel about AI as a job seeker or worker? Reach out to this reporter to share at mhoff@businessinsider.com.

Adding to the job rather than replacing workers

The "AI-touched" postings indicate that employers still want people to fill seats, even as roles start using the new tech.

"When a job title includes AI, what we see in the data is that it's more of a signal of demand than a signal of replacement," Adrjan said. "It really seems to capture employers who are wanting AI skills to be incorporated into the job, which looks a bit like augmentation."

Adrjan said mentions of AI in job titles don't mean people have to earn a computer science degree or acquire deep technical knowledge. Instead, it suggests employers want people with expertise in their field and AI fluency.

"That is reassuring for people who worry about AI because it's more about applying AI to the work that they already know and to the domain they already know, rather than having to switch into something completely different," Adrjan said.

A separate report by Guillermo Gallacher, an economist at Indeed Hiring Lab, showed changes in US job postings based on how exposed occupations were to AI. Gallacher said that "the more exposed to AI an occupation is, the more it declined" between May 2022 and May 2026, while the shorter span of May 2025 to May 2026 showed that "the more exposed to AI an occupation is, on average, the more it rebounded."

"The relationship between AI exposure and job postings appears to be flipping, from job destruction to job creation," Gallacher said.

Adrjan said the findings suggest AI augmentation, not necessarily AI creating jobs. He said that if people become familiar with AI tools, then it could open more doors for them in the labor market.

People can upskill on their own, but Adrjan said employers and educational institutions can also incorporate AI training, especially if a job requires specialized AI tools. That can help mitigate the risk of people falling behind.

"If AI competence continues to become an expectation across more occupations and across more jobs, then clearly there's a risk that some people may not be able to get the training or get familiarity with those tools as fast as others," Adrjan said.

Read the original article on Business Insider

from Business Insider https://ift.tt/JVKhiTC

This fitness startup vibecoded an app to make you walk before you can scroll

Venus Williams-backed fitness app WeWard launched a new feature that lets users lock selected apps until they reach a customizable daily step goal.

Fotoreport-DB/picture alliance via Getty Images

• Venus Williams-backed fitness app WeWard launched a new feature to cut screen time.
• The "Walking Mode" lets users lock selected apps until they reach a customizable daily step goal.
• The company's non-technical staff vibecoded the feature with Claude AI in two months.

Want to keep scrolling your social apps? Take a walk.

WeWard, a French fitness app backed by tennis star Venus Williams, has vibecoded a new feature that puts social media behind a step count. Called "Walking Mode," it lets users lock apps like TikTok and Instagram until they hit a customizable walking goal — say, 3,000 steps before the doomscrolling can begin.

WeWard's cofounder and CEO, Yves Benchimol, told Business Insider the idea came from a member of the company's non-technical staff. Their head of growth, Tyler Chandler, used Claude to vibe-code and launch the feature within 2 months.

"A few months ago, we were talking about AI when an employee said, 'Hey, I think I can vibe code a feature where instead of earning financial rewards for working, we can give people a reward from the time screen,'" Benchimol said.

Chandler told Business Insider that his "walking mode" idea came from his own "pain point" of frequently postponing Apple's default screen time controls.

"It was born out of a goal: to demonstrate to our product, business, and tech employees that a single person armed with AI-assisted coding could develop a complex feature end-to-end," Chandler said.

"We wanted to galvanize the team to get excited about using AI to bring their own ideas to life no matter how 'out there' they might seem," Chandler added.

The "walking mode" lets users block select apps until a set count is reached.

WeWard

The feature expands on WeWard's existing rewards model, which grants users in-app currency called "Wards" for walking. Users can redeem the points for cash, gift cards, or charitable donations. The app also includes leaderboards that encourage friendly competition.

Benchimol said it's aimed at people looking to increase their physical activity while cutting back on screen time, because social media is promoting "a sedentary lifestyle" for all generations.

"Finding a way to motivate people to do better stuff is what we want to do, and we believe that constraining people from using social media when they wake up before they do any physical activity is a good way to help people get into a better shape, mentally and physically," Benchimol said.

Benchimol said that Williams, as the company's angel investor, is also supportive of all features that help people get outside and move their bodies, though she is more involved in marketing than in feature creation.

Williams' representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

Benchimol said users typically spend only a few minutes a day inside the app, which he views as a positive outcome because its goal is to encourage activity away from phones.

The Paris-based company says it has more than 30 million users across 29 countries, including 4 million in the US, with top cities being New York, Chicago, and Miami. It also said that its platform increases users' walking time by nearly 25% on average. At the moment, the average user age is around 35, and 60% are women, the company said.

"So the feature was born as a way to block people from using their phone except if they start working and connect with their surroundings," Benchimol added.

Rather than letting social media come first, Benchimol wants users to earn it: "As a reward for being connected to the world, now you can be in the digital world."

Read the original article on Business Insider

from Business Insider https://ift.tt/CQopnv5

Anthropic has soared to a $1.2 trillion valuation on secondary markets. Shares are almost impossible to get.

Dario Amodei, co-founder and chief executive officer of Anthropic, during an interview on "The Circuit with Emily Chang" at Anthropic's headquarters in San Francisco, California, US, on Thursday, April 30, 2026.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

• Since Anthropic has yet to go public, most investors are forced to buy shares via secondary markets.
• The AI company soared to a $1.2 trillion valuation on a popular secondary exchange.
• Even at that high price, getting shares is a Herculean task as almost no one wants to sell.

Anthropic has soared to a $1.2 trillion valuation on secondary markets, but even at that astronomic price, good luck getting shares.

"Anthropic is the most sought-after company the venture secondary market has ever seen," said Javier Avalos, cofounder and CEO of Caplight, a secondary trading platform, where shares are trading at $1.2 trillion.

Glen Anderson, CEO of Rainmaker Securities, a merchant bank focused on private securities transactions, said he is also seeing transactions at $1.2 trillion, though deals remain rare because there are few sellers.

It was less than three months ago that Business Insider reported Anthropic reached a $1 trillion valuation, overtaking OpenAI for the first time. OpenAI, which had been valued much higher for years, is now valued at $908 billion on Caplight.

Anthropic's $1.2 trillion valuation represents a 550% year-over-year increase, according to Avalos.

The company was last valued at $965 billion in a Series H funding round announced in May. Last month, it filed paperwork to go public, with an expected IPO in the next few months.

Since Anthropic and OpenAI have yet to go public, the vast majority of investors are forced to buy via secondary markets, where existing stock is sold by employees or early investors. With the stock soaring, few are willing to part with their shares, and there have been a bevy of shady deals with high fees and byzantine ownership structures. Many have been structured as SPVs, or special-purpose vehicles, which allow investors to pool their funds for a single, one-off deal.

Anthropic declined to comment for this story. On its website, it has lately become more explicit in warning against unauthorized stock sales and scams.

"Invest at your own risk: if someone offers you a way to participate, even on an indirect basis, in an investment in Anthropic, assume that it is invalid," the company warns.

Still, many people have been willing to accept the risks, lest they miss out on what they see as the AI gold rush.

"Most of the supply we have seen in the market has been via SPV structures the company is openly against," Avalos said, adding many of those SPVs come with high fees.

Some interested buyers have gotten more creative, offering to sell their home in exchange for Anthropic shares.

"The demand outstrips the supply in Anthropic so much that it's rare to get a trade done because no one's selling," said Anderson. "If I could close everything I have in Anthropic in terms of demand, I would not be talking to you. I'd be on a beach right now."

Renewed interest in OpenAI

While Anthropic still commands the majority of investor interest—drawing five buyers for every two seeking OpenAI shares—OpenAI has seen a significant surge in momentum in recent weeks.

The enthusiasm is largely driven by the public rollout of OpenAI's powerful GPT-5.6 model series, which includes its new flagship model, "Sol," and the cost-effective "Terra."

"A month ago, we were seeing limited demand for OpenAI," he said. "We're still seeing breakneck demand for Anthropic, but now you're seeing OpenAI get bid on a lot more often."

Martin says he has always tried to follow the company's rules on secondary transactions carefully, but he has become more vigilant lately as Anthropic has intensified its scrutiny. He says he will only participate in "first-layer" SPVs, where the identity of the share seller is known.

"We're trying to make sure the trade is actually there for our investors, versus what could happen, which is Anthropic gets involved in some of these multi-layer SVB trades and invalidates them," he said.

Matt Murphy, a partner at Menlo Ventures, which was an early backer of Anthropic, said he pays little attention to secondary market valuations, calling them a "noisy signal." Nonetheless, he understands the hype, based on the surging revenue numbers Anthropic shared before it entered into an SEC-mandated quiet period ahead of its IPO.

"Those numbers were crazy above what the plan was for the entire year," Murphy said. "So I guess they've earned somewhat the right for there to be quite a bit of interest in investing in the company."

Read the original article on Business Insider

from Business Insider https://ift.tt/aXiqepJ

Why used Xbox, iPhone, and Macbook sales are surging

Getty Images; Tyler Le/BI

Angie Cardona-Nelson has been recycling tech waste and selling refurbished laptops, smartphones, and tech accessories for nearly two decades. When she lists laptops on eBay, they typically sit for a few weeks before someone buys. But in recent weeks, they're selling in just hours at her full asking price, she says.

Costs of new tech devices are surging. In June, Apple announced it would raise prices on some Macs and iPads by 20 and 25%, respectively, making MacBook Pros jump by $300. The sticker shock followed Apple CEO Tim Cook's warning that a shortage of memory chips amid the feverish AI buildout push would make higher costs "unavoidable." Dell and Microsoft have hit the same pitfall; Microsoft's Surface PCs now cost as much as $500 more than they did two years ago, and Xboxes will go up by about $150 later this summer.

"Because new tech is becoming more expensive, now consumers are just looking for value," Cardona-Nelson says. Whereas shoppers used to be wary of scratches or cosmetic issues, they now want something affordable that works. "We are experiencing a fundamental shift on mindset for refurbishing."

But there's a cure to the sticker shock: a growing interest in secondhand tech devices. A poll of 2,600 US adults commissioned by CNET and conducted by YouGov found that nearly half said they had considered buying a secondhand tech product in the past year. Millennials and Gen Z were more likely to say they were open to a used tech device than older respondents.

The more costs from the AI race get pushed onto consumers, the trendier secondhand tech becomes.

"This is an unintentional advertising campaign for us," says Lauren Benton, refurbished tech platform Back Market's US general manager. "When Apple announces" a price hike, she says, "we immediately see the impact." The day following Apple's announcement, MacBook sales on Back Market jumped by 62% compared to the previous week, Benton says, noting that the purchases were "overindexed on new customers." Back Market has seen sales leap when prices for new devices rise in the past — including when President Donald Trump announced new tariffs last year — but nothing like this.

We are experiencing a fundamental shift on mindset for refurbishing.

Phones have long dominated the tech resale marketplace, but at PayMore, which buys, trades, and sells secondhand electronics in brick and mortar stores, demand for computers and computer parts has jumped by 30% in the past three-to-six months, says Erik Helgesen, the company's president. "Consumers are becoming much more educated," Helgesen says. They're researching specific capabilities of laptops, and finding secondhand options.

Back-to-school shopping could be driving the sales this summer, but Benton says the spike shows more customers willing to consider owning a secondhand device. "When you start to think about: What do I really need?" Benton says. "Do I really need these features? No." More people are finding they can "still be able to get great tech, access all the AI up in the web, and really not feel any difference."

Tech companies haven't been wowing people with their latest product launches. New iPhones, like the 15 and beyond, offer Apple Intelligence, but as more people shun AI, it's not an upgrade all shoppers see as worth the cost. Marketing intelligence firm International Data Corporation forecast that used smartphone shipments would grow 3.2% year-over-year in 2025, but anticipated that new smartphones would only grow by 1% between 2025 and 2026. Data from Counterpoint Research shows that pre-owned smartphone sales grew 4% in 2024, 3% in 2025, and preliminary numbers for the first half of 2026 show a 13% spike in sales, while new smartphone shipments are forecast to drop by 12% this year. The firm says these jumps are driven by rising prices, but also by shrinkflation — the device capabilities look too similar to older ones to merit a true upgrade to a new device for many customers.

About a quarter of Americans now use AI chatbots daily, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Half still say they don't use them at all. People surveyed were also more likely to say AI will have a negative impact on society and on their personal lives over the next 20 years. Gen Z and Millennials were more likely than people 50 and older to express negative feelings.

Given that anxiety, it's not surprising then that younger people are driving the secondhand tech market growth and looking to recreate simpler, more analog times. Luddite nostalgia is also rising. Searches for iPods on eBay were up 20% year-over-year in 2025, with iPod Nanos released in 2007 seeing a 60% jump in price between 2023 and 2025. The number of iPod shuffles for sale increased by nearly 30%, and people also searched more for Walkmans. Anti-Big Tech organizers held an eight day, phone-free festival in New York City last week, calling it the "Summer of Ludd" and encouraging people to rethink their relationship with tech. Back Market has plastered billboards and subway cars in ads compelling people to "downgrade now," highlighting the lure of devices that cost less and do enough, even if they don't have the latest features.

The full effect of the recent price hikes will play out over the coming months. But many shoppers are already deciding that what's old is new-enough again for them.

---

Amanda Hoover is a senior correspondent at Business Insider covering the tech industry. She writes about the biggest tech companies and trends.

Read the original article on Business Insider

from Business Insider https://ift.tt/X203Lp8

It's time to revise Jeff Bezos' famous '2-pizza rule' for the AI era, Cursor field CTO says

Cursor's David Pan wrote that two pizzas — the amount advised by Jeff Bezos — may be too much food to fill a team in the AI era.

Alexander Spatari/Getty Images

• Cursor field CTO David Pan wrote a eulogy to Jeff Bezos' "2-pizza rule" on X.
• Bezos initially proposed that a meeting should always be small enough to feed with two pizza pies.
• "In the AI era, two pizzas is too much pizza," Pan wrote.

In the "tiny team" era of AI, your meeting doesn't need as many pepperonis.

Jeff Bezos popularized the "two pizza rule," the idea that any Amazon meeting should remain small enough to be fed with two pies. The rule also influenced team sizes

These days, many workplace teams have gotten even smaller. David Pan, Cursor's field CTO, put it simply: "RIP to the two pizza team."

Pan wrote on X that Bezos created an "all-time great metaphor," one that shaped engineering for over twenty years.

"He was right about small teams," he wrote. "But in the AI era, two pizzas is too much pizza."

RIP to the two pizza team. Jeff Bezos gave us an all-time great metaphor: keep the team small enough to feed with two pizzas. It shaped how engineering orgs got built for 20+ years. He was right about small teams. Still is. But in the AI era, two pizzas is too much pizza.

— David Pan (@davep) July 6, 2026

In the comments, users debated what the new metaphor should be. One proposed the quarter-pizza team; another said it was the three-slice team.

Amazon writes that "ideally, this is a team of less than 10 people: smaller teams minimize lines of communication and decrease overhead of bureaucracy and decision-making."

"This allows two-pizza teams to spend more time focusing on their customers, and constantly experimenting and innovating on their behalf — the biggest priority of high-performing teams at Amazon," the company's website says.

Some still follow the rule. Spencer Rascoff, the CEO of dating app company Match Group, told Business Insider that he was a fan in March.

Pan knows the rule firsthand. Before Cursor, he worked at Amazon from 2011 to 2014 as an engineering manager, according to his LinkedIn.

There are also competing pressures on team sizes. Some managers want smaller teams, with fewer people doing more tasks. Others want bigger, flatter teams with fewer layers of management. Those wide teams may need more pizzas.

Of course, many users commented that they themselves could devour the pies — even on a shrunken team.

"I've learned that you all can eat a lot of pizza," Pan commented in the wake of his initial post.

Read the original article on Business Insider

from Business Insider https://ift.tt/RIr0Pse