All the celebrities, sports personalities, politicians, and business execs we spotted at Game 3 of the NBA finals

Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Al Bello/Getty Images

• The NBA Finals returned to New York on Monday night as the Knicks hosted the Spurs at Madison Square Garden.
• Game 3 marked the first Finals game at Madison Square Garden in more than two decades.
• Here are the celebrities, sports personalities, and business executives we spotted at the NBA Finals.

The NBA Finals returned to New York for Game 3 on Monday night, drawing a star-studded crowd to Madison Square Garden as the Knicks hosted the Spurs.

San Antonio defeated New York 115-111, cutting the Knicks' series lead to 2-1. Game 4 is set for Wednesday.

Here are the politicians, business executives, celebrities, and sports personalities we spotted at the NBA Finals so far.

President Donald Trump and Kai Trump

President Donald Trump and his granddaughter, Kai Trump, at Game 3 of the NBA finals at Madison Square Garden.

SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden alongside his granddaughter, Kai Trump.

During a pregame interview on the "NBA Tip-off," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that Trump was a guest of Knicks' owner James Dolan.

"He's welcome to be here. I think that's what makes sports so special, especially when there's so much that divides people. It's something that we have in common," Silver said.

Silver also called Trump a "genuine Knicks fan" and said that the president's attendance at Game 3 had prompted heightened security at Madison Square Garden.

This marks the first NBA Finals game attended by a sitting US president, per ESPN. The president is no stranger to major sporting events, having attended the Super Bowl and the US Open during his time in office.

Zohran Mamdani

New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani enters Madison Square Garden.@NYCMayor | #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/Yg47NWasv8

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 9, 2026

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was also spotted arriving at Madison Square Garden ahead of Game 3.

In a video shared on X by The Athletic, Mamdani was seen fist-bumping fans as he entered the arena.

Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg was at Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Geoff Burke/Reuters

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg attended Game 3 at Madison Square Garden.

He briefly found himself in the middle of the action when the Knicks' point guard Jose Alvarado tumbled into his courtside seat while pursuing a loose ball.

A video posted on X by the New York Post showed Alvarado checking in on Bloomberg and giving him a pat on the chest before returning to the game.

Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, and Timothée Chalamet

Ben Stiller was at Game 3 of the NBA Finals with his wife, Christine Taylor. They were seated next to Timothée Chalamet.

Al Bello/Getty Images

Longtime Knicks fan Ben Stiller attended Games 1 and 2 in San Antonio before returning to support the team for Game 3 in New York.

Stiller was seated courtside alongside his wife, Christine Taylor, and fellow Knicks supporter Timothée Chalamet, who had also attended the first two Finals games in San Antonio.

Jeremy Lin and Spike Lee

Former New York Knicks player Jeremy Lin and filmmaker Spike Lee were spotted at Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Dustin Satloff/Getty Images

Filmmaker Spike Lee has followed the Knicks throughout the Finals, making the trip to San Antonio for Games 1 and 2 before showing up for Game 3.

In an interview with ESPN before the match on Monday, Lee said he had read that his seat for Game 3 could have fetched a hefty sum on the secondary market.

"It went down, but it was half a million," Lee said.

In 2024, Lee was recognized as a SuperFan by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He has held New York Knicks season tickets since 1985, per ESPN.

The filmmaker was also photographed posing with former Knicks guard Jeremy Lin, who attended the game.

Tracy Morgan and Tina Fey

Tracy Morgan and Tina Fey were also spotted courtside at Madison Square Garden for Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Al Bello/Getty Images

Actor and comedian Tracy Morgan was spotted courtside with Tina Fey, both wearing Knicks jerseys in support of the home team. The longtime friends and former "30 Rock" costars have also been seen together at previous Knicks games.

This time, they were seated next to Stiller, Taylor, and Chalamet.

Morgan has long been one of the Knicks' most outspoken celebrity supporters. In a May video with Complex Sneakers, Morgan said he bought the team two pairs of Nike Kobe 5 "Bruce Lee" sneakers each in 2024.

"Just to let them know I'm part of the fanbase and we appreciate what they do," Morgan said in the video.

Morgan recently lent his voice to special New York City subway announcements encouraging fans to take the train to Knicks watch parties and home games at Madison Square Garden.

Jay-Z

Jay-Z was at Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Al Bello/Getty Images

New York native Jay-Z, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, was among the celebrities in attendance at Madison Square Garden.

Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter is courtside at Madison Square Garden for Game 3 of the NBA Finals! pic.twitter.com/xXtt2ObkVf

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) June 9, 2026

Baseball icon Derek Jeter attended Game 3.

During his 20-year career with the New York Yankees, Jeter helped lead the team to five World Series titles before retiring in 2014.

Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni

Everyone: "The president's here! Jay-Z's here!"

Anyone named Brunson: Liv and El are here! pic.twitter.com/AIlcH1xeUN

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) June 9, 2026

"Law and Order: SVU" star Mariska Hargitay and her former costar Christopher Meloni were also at the game on Monday night.

Knicks captain Jalen Brunson has previously spoken about being a fan of the longtime crime drama.

"I've always loved that show," Brunson said during a May 2025 episode of "The Roommates Show" podcast, which he hosts with his teammate Josh Hart.

Larry David, David Zaslav, and Robert Kraft

Larry David, David Zaslav, and Patriots owner Robert Kraft were at Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

SAUL LOEB / AFP

Larry David was seated courtside next to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO and president David Zaslav and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

In July 2024, The Athletic reported that the NBA had reached a new 11-year, $76 billion media rights agreement with Disney, NBC, and Amazon — a deal that ultimately brought Warner Bros. Discovery's 35-year partnership with the league to an end after the 2024-25 season.

At a Morgan Stanley conference in March 2025, Zaslav said Warner Bros. Discovery was better off investing in its own franchises rather than sports rights, which he described as a "rental business."

Celebrity sightings from Game 2

Ben Stiller also attended Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Game 2 of the NBA Finals took place on Friday, and there were several familiar faces back in the crowd, including Stiller, Lee, Morgan, and Chalamet — all of whom were also at Game 1.

Twelve-time NBA All-Star Chris Paul was among the attendees at Game 2. He played for the Spurs during the 2024-25 season and brought his son, Chris Paul II, to the game.

Celebrity sightings from Game 1

Disney's Bob Iger, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro, and other media executives were spotted at Game 1 of the NBA Finals in San Antonio, Texas.

Screengrab by Steven Tweedie.

The NBA Finals tipped off on June 3 at Frost Bank Center in Texas.

The Knicks, making their first Finals appearance in more than two decades, opened the series with a 105-95 victory over the Spurs.

Several notable Knicks supporters were in attendance, including Stiller, Lee, Morgan, and Chalamet.

They were joined by former New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, one of the hosts of the NBA Finals pregame show "NBA Tip-Off" and the postgame show "Inside the NBA."

Disney board member Bob Iger, Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro, and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro were also present at the game, together with Silver.

During the broadcast, the commentators for the night joked that the men made up a "murderers' row of executives." The NBA Finals air on ABC and are produced by ESPN, two Disney-owned networks.

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The heartbreaking naivete of Scott Pelley

Joshua Blanchard/Getty; CBS Photo Archive/Getty; Noam Galai/Getty; Tyler Le/BI

On Sunday, the New York Times published an explosive interview with "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley, his first since he was fired from CBS News last week. In it, Pelley detailed a series of serious allegations — most notably, that editor in chief Bari Weiss "was putting a thumb on the scale on behalf" of the Trump administration — that dominated the news cycle that followed.

But as I listened to the hourlong conversation, what I found most striking were his objections to the way he felt Weiss and her new lieutenant Nick Bilton treated him and his colleagues. That's when Pelley was most emotional, at times tearing up and pausing to steady his voice.

"That's a family at '60 Minutes,'" he said. "It's a very loving and empathetic organization, and we were met with cold, callous indifference."

In the interview, Pelley described a variety of ways he saw this callous indifference manifest. He was floored that Bilton, in his first meeting with employees in the wake of recent firings, read a prepared statement from his phone. He choked up as he described how his executive producer Tanya Simon was summarily dismissed and told to clear out her desk by 5pm. He felt so betrayed by the dismissal of his colleagues that he compared it to "your spouse being murdered."

Cold and callous? Sure. But coldness and callousness are now pretty standard in corporate America, where lawyered statements, management shakeups, and abrupt firings have become the norm. Why was he so surprised? I wondered if his expectations were out of touch with the times — maybe even naive. Even the bright-eyed Gen Zers I talk to know not to expect much from our employers these days.

But listening to Pelley, who'd worked at the network since 1989, it's impossible not to be moved by the fierce loyalty he and his colleagues demonstrated to CBS News. And up until last week, it sounds like CBS News demonstrated the same loyalty back to him. By his account, the culture of mutual loyalty at the network somehow managed to stay intact all these years — even as it died across much of corporate America.

Pelley described his colleagues who've worked and traveled and dined together for "10, 20, 30 years." He spoke about how they risked their own lives in war zones in service of their viewers. That forges "very strong bonds, very emotional bonds," he said. "To have people running CBS News who don't know that, have never felt that, and don't understand it, is a tragedy I never expected to see."

It's the kind of camaraderie most young people will probably never experience.

For me, the most telling moment was midway through the interview, when Pelley recounted the day he was fired. After being summoned to a meeting with the top brass last Tuesday, he returned to his office to find a whole crowd of his colleagues awaiting news of his fate. They waited with him for hours, even though they had their own families to get home to. Pelley didn't think much of this until it occurred to him: "This is a vigil." Hearing this, I was touched and also jealous, that he had this then and he likely had it his whole career, surrounded by all these colleagues who cared so deeply about him that they refused to leave his side. It's the kind of camaraderie that develops only in the kind of loyal organizations that are becoming rarer by the day. It's the kind of camaraderie most young people will probably never experience.

Management scholars refer to these expectations of loyalty as a psychological contract. It consists of what you believe you owe your employer and what your employer owes you in return. This contract — however implicit — is foundational in every workplace, and when both parties uphold their end of the bargain, you get a functional organization. But when somebody breaks the contract? That's the debacle that's unfolding at CBS News right now — the same debacle that's wreaked havoc across so many other companies over the last few decades.

It's perfectly possible for organizations to retire old contracts and forge new ones but until you do, you get a race to the bottom where both parties end up doing less and less for each other. That can't be good news for "60 Minutes" — for its employees, for its executives, or for the millions of people who watch it every week.

For someone like Pelley, who is out of the job he devoted nearly four decades to, the normal thing to do is to become disloyal yourself. I've heard it from so many people over the years: I'll never go above and beyond for a company again. But Pelley remains loyal — to the show he no longer belongs to, as well as the people he no longer works with. That's why he's speaking out. "I don't care about me," he said. "I am not emotional about this because I have lost this job. I've done it for a long time. I've had the greatest experiences. But the people I leave behind, treated in this way? That breaks my heart."

---

Aki Ito is a chief correspondent at Business Insider.

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See if there's a data center near you with our new interactive tracker

Monsicha Srisuantang/BI

Do you live near a data center? If not, you might live near one soon.

Business Insider's new map shows 1,416 data centers built or approved for construction in 45 states and Washington, DC by the end of 2025.

Virginia is the historical epicenter of data center development in the US. Now developers are hungry for new sites. Hot spots have emerged in West Texas; outside Cheyenne, Wyoming; and in rural Wisconsin.

Our map shows every data center we found with an air permit issued through December 2025. The data table is searchable by county, state, zip code, or corporate parent, and sortable by estimated low-end, high-end, and average electricity use. Search by any address to identify the closest data centers. Select any data center on the map to see more details about the facility, and select any entry in the data table to see the data center on the map.

For any data center with an asterisk, Business Insider also identified a permit to build a dedicated power source, such as a natural gas plant, to provide electricity for that data center. Business Insider identified at least 20 permits issued to developers through the end of 2025 for power plants intended to serve data centers.

To investigate the rapid proliferation of US data centers, Business Insider filed requests with all 50 states and Washington, DC for the air permits that regulate backup generators installed at data centers. We used data in these permits to identify data center location and ownership, and estimate facility power use. This map is an updated version of the data center map we published last year. Read about our methodology in more detail here.

Business Insider's analysis of permits shows that Meta had 38 US data centers at the end of 2025, a figure that Meta says is too high. Meta says it currently has 28 data centers in the US, and that some of the permitted facilities in Business Insider's analysis are offices. Offices could have backup generators for small, on-site servers. Business Insider included these facilities because they received air permits issued with federal industry codes associated with data centers. These facilities represent 0.2% of Meta's total data center power use, according to Business Insider's estimate.

Business Insider's analysis is dependent on estimating data centers' electricity use based on the number and type of backup generators installed at each facility. Where developers are building entire power plants, some are forgoing installing backup generators altogether. As a result, Business Insider's electricity estimates are certainly an undercount, as facilities known to be huge and built with dedicated on-site or nearby power generation, such as xAI's data center complex in Memphis, Tennessee, or Meta's Hyperion Campus in Richland Parish, Louisiana, appear far smaller in Business Insider's analysis, due to a lack of permitted backup diesel generators.

Business Insider's methodology was developed in close consultation with industry and academic experts and is the same methodology used for an award-winning series published by Business Insider last year. Amazon said Business Insider's methodology is misleading because it includes a range of electricity estimates. QTS said the company's current electricity use is lower than our estimates, which project future use. Equinix says it had 79 data centers either built or under construction at the end of 2025. Business Insider identified permits for 56 Equinix data centers.

Have a tip or a question about our reporting? Reach out to Business Insider's enterprise team at investigations@insider.com.

Series credits

Reporting: Hannah Beckler, Dakin Campbell, Jack Newsham

Editing: Jennifer Maloney

Design, development, and graphics: Randy Yeip, Monsicha Srisuantang

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Legora's tech chief says tokenmaxxing is a 'really stupid way' to encourage AI use

Legora's CTO said demos or hack days are better ways to encourage AI use.

Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

• Legora's tech head said there are better ways to gauge AI usage than tokenmaxxing.
• He said that demo days and hack days are more efficient ways of showing people how AI can be used.
• Tech firms are now questioning tokenmaxxing costs and reassessing giving employees free rein.

There are far better ways to encourage AI use than tokenmaxxing, says Legora's chief technology officer.

"A lot of people, say, get a leaderboard and bring up token usage at performance reviews," said Jacob Lauritzen on an episode of the "20VC" podcast released on Saturday. "That leads to tokenmaxing, which is people just burn tokens just to look good."

"That's a really stupid way to do anything," he added.

Tokenmaxxing refers to using tons of AI tools like Claude, Codex, and Cursor to boost productivity and get ahead on internal AI use dashboards and reviews.

Lauritzen, who joined the legal AI startup in 2024, said that more intelligent ways to use AI include hack days or demos where employees can show others what they're building and the efficiency gains they have achieved.

"Reward them for being effective and efficient and having more output, not for necessarily using AI," he said.

That said, Lauritzen added that fast-growing companies like Legora have a lot to lose when they don't use AI.

"Is it worth us spending a ton of tokens to learn if it maybe gives us 20% efficiency for us? Yes, we have a really high opportunity cost," he said.

Lauritzen's comments come at a pivotal moment for the tech industry, as it moves from tokenmaxxing to token capping. Some tech companies are wondering if the dashboards they implemented as motivation to play around with AI are backfiring — and finance departments are increasingly concerned about how much it all costs.

Last week, Uber said it has limited all employees to $1,500 in monthly token spend per AI tool, after the ride-hailing company blew through its AI spend budget earlier this year.

Last month, the Financial Times reported that Amazon shuttered an internal dashboard that tracked AI use after some staff performed tasks to climb the leaderboard.

An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that the unofficial dashboard "was never intended to promote the use of AI for usage's sake."

At a Bloomberg conference last week, Andrew Feldman, the CEO of Cerebras Systems, said that the idea of giving employees unlimited tokens was "boneheaded from the get-go."

"You don't need a Ferrari to go to the grocery store, right? Use a lower-cost open source model," he said about being more efficient with tokens. "What we're learning is how to shop at Costco."

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I flew long-haul in Gulf Air's 'Apex Suite' business class. I'll always book it over its better-known rivals.

I flew in a unique "Apex Suite" business class cabin that usually costs less than Qatar or Emirates but is still very comfortable.

Courtesy of Angelo De Guzman

• I find Gulf Air's "Apex Suite" offers competitive business class comfort at a lower price point.
• The Boeing 787 provides aisle access and coziness despite the 2-2-2 layout.
• My Gulf Air fare from Bahrain to Bangkok was $2,044, much cheaper than Emirates or Qatar.

Middle Eastern giants Emirates and Qatar Airways used to be my go-to airlines for business class. But after flying Bahrain-based Gulf Air, I can't justify their higher fares anymore.

I first flew Gulf Air's "Apex Suite" business class in 2023 and was surprised by how competitive it felt. Despite a 2-2-2 layout that would usually signal limited privacy and mobility, the Boeing 787 offered coziness while still allowing every passenger to freely access the aisle.

The unique cabin may not be as posh as Emirates and Qatar's modern premium seats with sliding doors or mini bars, but it offers the privacy, space, and comfort I want at a significantly lower price.

My most recent trip from Dubai to Bangkok reinforced this: Emirates was selling business-class tickets for $3,460, Qatar for $2,940, and Gulf Air for $2,044. Gulf Air was an easy choice.

While there are a few easy ways it could improve its premium experience, Gulf Air delivers everything I need for a long-haul flight — and I haven't booked Emirates or Qatar on comparable routes since.

I flew Gulf Air from Dubai to Bangkok via Bahrain in May.

I flew to Bangkok via Bahrain from my home in Dubai. I could fly nonstop on Emirates, but I don't mind the layover to save money.

Courtesy of Angelo De Guzman

I enjoyed a drink at Gulf Air's luxe "Falcon Gold Lounge" in Bahrain before my 7-hour trek to Bangkok.

It was well-stocked with Champagne and spirits. The buffet had a salad bar, Arabic dishes, live cooking, and desserts. There's also a business center, a pool table, and even PlayStation 5 consoles.

Falcon Gold strikes a happy middle ground between its bigger competitors: less flashy than Qatar's flagship lounge, but quieter and more relaxed than Emirates' often-crowded Dubai offering.

I boarded my red-eye flight to Bangkok around 10 p.m. via a dedicated jetbridge for premium flyers.

Courtesy of Angelo De Guzman

There were two jet bridges, one mainly for priority groups, which meant I was among the first on the plane.

Boarding was well organized, with dedicated lanes for business-class and higher-status passengers.

The Boeing 787-9 featured Gulf Air's unique Apex Suite.

Courtesy of Angelo De Guzman

The unique suite has 26 seats in a 2-2-2 layout, with two seats by each window and two in the middle. Window seats sit slightly further back than aisle seats, creating a private walkway into your space that doesn't force anyone to climb over their neighbor.

Once settled, I raised the privacy shield and cocooned myself away from the other passengers.

My favorite seats are by the window, but not all are equal.

There was a large gap between the windows at my seat.

Courtesy of Angelo De Guzman

One neat design element of the Apex Suite is that most window seats have three or four windows.

My seat, 3K, however, only had two due to the fuselage design. I normally book 2A or 2K to avoid this, but they were both taken.

The pre-boarding service is five-star, but the amenity kit was inconsistent.

Courtesy of Angelo De Guzman

A welcome drink and cold towel were offered during boarding, followed by gahwa — a traditional Arabic coffee — and dates.

Slippers and pajamas were also handed out before departure, a nice touch for an overnight flight. Qatar and Emirates also offer sleepwear on select long-haul flights.

At the seat were menus in English and Arabic, water, and an amenity kit. The kit was noticeably stripped back from previous flights, with only an eye mask, socks, and earplugs.

Earlier kits included lip balm, hand cream, body mist, and a toothbrush. It may have been a one-off, as the kit on my return flight had the missing items.

The 22-inch screen matched newer cabins, but don't expect 8,000 movies.

The inflight screen is standard size but far away from the seat.

Courtesy of Angelo De Guzman

The seat had a 22-inch screen, standard for business class, and a touchscreen remote that doubled as a controller. Gulf Air's smaller entertainment library is inferior to Emirates' or Qatar's, but it's ample for a long-haul flight.

Emirates' refurbished 777s — which ditched the 2-3-2 layout for one without middle seats — offer 23-inch displays. Qatar's Qsuite comes in at around 21.5. Their older aircraft typically have smaller screens.

There was more storage than expected, and the massage function actually worked.

Courtesy of Angelo De Guzman

The storage was better than most business-class seats I've used, with dedicated space for water bottles, a phone, headphones, and even a backpack and shoes under the screen.

The tray table easily fit my 14-inch MacBook Pro and headphones, while the built-in massage function was a relaxing touch at 35,000 feet.

The bathroom had a bidet.

Japanese carriers like All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines also have bidets.

Courtesy of Angelo De Guzman

The two business-class-only lavatories up front were kept clean throughout the flight and featured Japanese-style bidet toilets.

Though the amenities were basic, a light upgrade would go a long way to match the premium cabin experience.

Dinner was tasty and well-paced.

Courtesy of Angelo De Guzman

I had mushroom soup to start, which was hot enough to be comforting. Warm bread, including multigrain, white, and garlic, came on the side.

Prawn salad followed, with green papaya, cucumber, carrots, and chili salsa. For mains, the options were Bahraini chicken biryani, Thai beef curry, Cajun salmon, and Pad Thai.

I was tempted by the Thai options but held off for Bangkok. I went with the salmon, which tasted fresh. Champagne flowed throughout, with other solid wine options also available.

I was served dessert from a dedicated trolley.

The dessert trolley is a fan favorite.

Courtesy of Angelo De Guzman

The dessert trolley had several options.

I went with the cheesecake, fruit, and the cheese platter, which they plated on the spot.

The turndown service has changed.

The 22-inch seat converts into a 78-inch fully flat bed.

Courtesy of Angelo De Guzman

In the past, the crew would usually mention turndown service, especially on red-eye flights. Now, you have to ask. Still, I slept very well.

A mattress topper and fitted bedding made a real difference to what, underneath it all, is a converted seat.

The cabin ran slightly warm at night.

Courtesy of Angelo De Guzman

The cabin was well dimmed and quiet.

The only downside was the temperature. The 787-9 doesn't have individual air vents, so you're at the mercy of the cabin setting, which ran slightly warm. I prefer it colder.

Breakfast was simple but well-timed.

Breakfast was well-timed for a 9:45 a.m. arrival in Bangkok.

Courtesy of Angelo De Guzman

The lights gradually brightened, signaling it was time for breakfast.

There were no hot options, but I could choose from fruit, yogurt, pastries, and drinks.

Gulf Air is overall a better value for me than Emirates and Qatar.

There are a few areas Gulf Air could improve, but it's a better bang for my buck than Qatar and Emirates.

Courtesy of Angelo De Guzman

The Apex Suite gets the basics right: the privacy works, the bed is comfortable, and the service is good.

But there are a few gaps. I had to request turndown service and the inflight library trails both Emirates and Qatar. Those are easy wins left on the table.

Despite all that, I won't stop booking the Apex Suite. Gulf Air runs roughly $1,400 less than Emirates and $900 less than Qatar on this route — that's equal to a few nights at a five-star hotel in Bangkok and a Michelin-level dinner.

If it's your first time in business class, this is a smart place to start. If you already fly often and are open to a unique way to fly business class, you're getting the same experience without the brand premium.

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I flew on a startup's one-of-a-kind electric plane that could reshape air travel by 2027

I flew in a one-of-a-kind electric airplane and got a glimpse of what the future of aviation could look like.

Taylor Rains/Business Insider

• Beta Technologies aims to revolutionize travel with its electric aircraft, the Alia CX300.
• I flew on the plane during Beta's media day and thought it was smooth and quiet.
• There are still questions around certification, infrastructure, battery life, and public acceptance.

The future of aviation isn't a sleek jet — it's a tiny whale-shaped airplane that could turn The Jetsons fantasy of aerial commuting into reality.

Vermont-based startup Beta Technologies aims to convince US consumers that electric aviation has arrived in ways that will change how they travel for work and leisure, and invited media to ride in the state-of-the-art all-electric aircraft that it calls the Alia CX300.

For 20 minutes, we zipped above Burlington at over 100 miles per hour as test pilot Chris "Pooter" Caputo showed us how it banks, glides, and manages energy. The ride was smooth, quiet, and surprisingly fast, with sweeping views of Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains below.

This new industry believes electric aircraft like the Alia CX300 will take over short regional routes from today's small fuel-powered turboprops and helicopters — making travel cleaner, cheaper, and quieter.

Beta's CX300, a type of aircraft designated cTOL, already has orders from carriers like Air New Zealand and is expected to begin revenue-cargo flights later this year under a Transportation Department pilot program. Full certification is expected in late 2027.

Beta is also developing an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or eVTOL — the Alia 250 — to certify in the years after its CX300. It mirrors much of the CX300's technology but takes off from a vertiport rather than a runway, making it particularly suitable for city commutes.

This approach differs from that of other US competitors, such as Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation, which are primarily focused on eVTOL aircraft instead of stepped certification.

Beta president and CEO Kyle Clark said it's a pragmatic strategy that ultimately makes vertical certification easier: "By the time you get the cTOL certified, you effectively have 80% of the requirements for the eVTOL."

Still, the company faces major hurdles, particularly around charging infrastructure, certification, and public acceptance — especially if expected cost savings don't translate into affordable fares. And the up to $13 million in projected battery replacement sales over each aircraft's lifetime, outlined in a 2025 SEC filing, could spook potential customers.

Here's a closer look at the Alia CX300 and what my flight was like.

Alia CX300 can carry five passengers and one pilot.

Taylor Rains/Business Insider

The Alia CX300 can carry five passengers and one pilot, with no divider between the cockpit and the cabin.

Inside, two rows of seats sit behind the pilot. My colleague Dan Allen, who sat in the back row at over six feet tall, said he had plenty of legroom. I sat in the front and felt the same.

Flying from the cockpit gave me a bird's-eye view, and the visibility below seemed to eliminate some blind spots.

That said, you do feel every bank and bump in a small aircraft like this, and some passengers may get motion sickness. Dramamine probably wouldn't hurt.

It runs on rechargeable battery packs.

The charging cubes are left of the aircraft. One unit charges the batteries, while the other cools them during the process.

Taylor Rains/Business Insider

Up to five battery packs stored in the belly of the aircraft provide around 250 kWh of energy — roughly 390 miles of range under ideal conditions. The redundancy in case a battery fails is crucial for safety and certification.

While not fully certified yet, the company secured special federal permissions to operate demonstration flights like this one.

Beta has spent years developing its electric propulsion system in-house, with separate versions for its cTOL and upcoming eVTOL aircraft.

The batteries can be recharged in about an hour using large, cube-shaped charging units, which Beta also builds and sells to other operators for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The charging business is part of its broader strategy to diversify revenue beyond aircraft sales.

By designing and building much of its technology in-house, Beta has greater control over quality and costs, Clark said — a vertical integration strategy similar to SpaceX, which also builds much of its rockets and supporting infrastructure itself.

Our pilot cut the engines halfway through the flight.

Taylor Rains/Business Insider

To demonstrate the CX300's glide, Caputo cut the engines at about 1,300 feet. While it was slightly rattling, the aircraft maintained a controlled glide and gradually lost altitude.

Caputo said that even in the event of complete power loss away from an airport, the aircraft could glide down onto a suitable landing strip.

The engine itself is also built with redundancy. The rear-mounted electric propulsion unit is designed with independent power paths, meaning one can fail while the other continues operating.

Our flight cost a few dollars. That doesn't mean fares will be cheap.

BETA is also making an electric aircraft for the US military.

Taylor Rains/Business Insider

Our flight technically cost only a few dollars in electricity, Caputo said. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy similarly took a demo flight with Beta last week that cost $3, per the company. A similarly sized fuel-powered Cessna would cost a few hundred dollars.

But that doesn't necessarily translate into cheap fares. Operating costs still include pilots, maintenance, insurance, and infrastructure — so the true economics are still a big question.

But electricity is still cheaper than jet fuel, especially as oil prices remain sky high amid the US war in Iran.

Alia CX300 has already been tested on real-life missions.

Caputo performed deep banks to show us the cTOL's maneuverability.

Taylor Rains/Business Insider

Beta has partnered with several airlines, including Republic Airways, Air New Zealand, and the UK's Loganair, to conduct real-world test flights. For example, Beta and ANZ completed more than 100 flights — including organ deliveries — across 12 airports and roughly 7,000 miles earlier this year.

In the US alone, there are more than 4,000 public-use airports that are too rural or small for larger commercial jets, yet still need more affordable connections to the broader air network — think leisure places like the Hamptons and Catalina Island, or remote Alaskan communities that rely on regular supply flights.

That network could become the backbone for the Alia CX300, flying short-haul routes within airline fleets or as a standalone service opening untapped routes at lower cost — ultimately laying the groundwork for Beta's vision of eVTOL flying taxis.

"We're ready to go today with cargo cTOL aircraft," Clark said. "Tomorrow it's going to be passenger cTOL aircraft, then cargo VTOL aircraft, then passenger VTOL aircraft."

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That recruiter email may not be real. Scammers are using your online information to sound convincing.

Getty Images; Tyler Le/BI

• In a tougher job market, job seekers may overlook warning signs of job scams.
• People should watch out for opportunities with unreasonably high pay and other common red flags.
• Scammers may use public information about someone to make their outreach messages sound more authentic.

Even the people helping others find work aren't immune to suspicious job offers.

Colleen Paulson, the founder of Ageless Careers, typically helps older executives find new jobs. She received an email for a position that matched her past experience with an eye-popping offer: The gig offered at least $900,000 a year.

Even though Paulson thinks the email was well-written and included a photo, the high pay for the job struck her as a red flag. There was another sign: It didn't seem to come from an official company email domain.

"No one's going to come and email me for a $900,000 a year job from a Gmail account," Paulson said. "So you have to take that discretion and say, 'If it's too good to be true, then it probably isn't real.'"

Paulson suspects the sender did their research to gather information about her online; Paulson's location and work history are on her public LinkedIn account. She suggests people who aren't sure about whether a reachout is legit ask a friend for another opinion.

Take this quiz to see if you can spot job offer red flags

You may have received something similar: a text promising a high-paying work-from-home opportunity, a time-sensitive job offer, or a message saying to deposit a check before starting a job. Experts, job seekers, and workers shared some of the most common red flags to watch out for. As the job market gets trickier, people are more likely to fall for scams because they are desperate.

"The scams are getting more and more complex and harder to detect," Paulson said. "I am afraid for people. It's honestly horrible."

It's a tough time to find work in general, but especially rough for young people joining the workforce. A LinkedIn survey conducted by Censuswide of over 8,000 workers in various countries showed that Gen Z is more likely to experience scams.

Oscar Rodriguez, vice president of trust product at LinkedIn, said Gen Z may ignore warning signs because the job market for entry-level roles is competitive, and many newcomers aren't familiar with standard hiring practices since they are newer to the workforce.

Here are some of the things to watch out for if you're worried about getting scammed in your job hunt.

Leveraging public information

It's easy for scammers to get information about job seekers in today's digital world, so they can craft emails that seem familiar to the person's experience. It also makes it easier to imitate real recruiters, so scammers come across as offering an actual opportunity.

"Recent advancements in AI have made it cheaper, faster, and easier to pretend to be someone that you're not," Rodriguez said.

What's been your experience with job scams? Reach out to this reporter to share at mhoff@businessinsider.com.

Even though Bill Hague, executive vice president at media consultancy and research company Magid, isn't looking for a new job, he suspects he has received job scams leveraging his public information. He cited one email that mentioned his past experience on his public LinkedIn profile. "At first, it didn't strike me as a scam because they referenced my background," he said.

Several things in the email made him skeptical, however — links to social media pages that didn't work, "United States" as the address rather than a more specific location, and no posts made on the independent recruiter's LinkedIn. The email also noted it was time-sensitive, high-priority, and was for a major company. "In any major corporation, you know they've all got internal HR and search folks. So that obviously set off another alarm," he said.

Hague sees how it's easy for people to fall for something that looks like it could be a real offer.

"There's so much fraud going on across the internet, and obviously, mobile devices all make access pretty easy," Hague said, adding, "people who get taken advantage of, whether it's the elderly or people who are desperate or aggressively looking for a job, they're the easiest targets."

People worried about their LinkedIn profiles can check their settings to see how much they share with connections and search engines. People can also report accounts that seem suspicious.

Be skeptical of high-paying offers

Priya Rathod, workplace trends editor at Indeed, said job scams tend to increase when the job market is more challenging. She said common job scams involve being asked to hand over money, share personal details, or do free work.

"If you get a message and it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," Rathod said. That can include a reachout promising high pay and flexibility, two factors job seekers tend to seek, but doesn't lay out a specific position. "They keep these details vague on purpose because specific details would give you something to verify," Rathod added.

Meanwhile, Rathod warned about messages that include a position that can't be corroborated on an employer's career page, as well as messages that promise a job without an interview.

Deanna Denham-Hughes tends to spend three days a week working on her portfolio and scouring job sites after being laid off in March.

Amid all the grunt work, she also has to be wary of too-good-to-be-true offers. One email said it was a "confidential" opportunity and promised high pay, but when Denham-Hughes reached out to the recruiter on LinkedIn, they said they hadn't sent it.

"I don't know what's harder to receive: 'Thank you, we're not interested in you' email from an actual employer or a fake offer from a con artist," Denham-Hughes said.

Job seekers have to be careful of email addresses and URLs. Recruiter emails from personal accounts rather than an employer domain could be suspect. Other red flags include any extra or missing letters, or even letters used to make it look like another — for instance, an "r" and "n" together made to look like an "m." People can also hover over email links without clicking them to check the address for typos or other red flags.

Asking for money

Job seekers should also not send money to get a position. "No one who's trying to hire you for a legitimate job listing is going to ask you for a payment prior to it," Rathod said.

A blog post from the Federal Trade Commission said payment for equipment or expenses is a red flag. A company check can also be another scam technique. "The 'check' usually comes with instructions to send some of the money to someone else, often in the form of a wire transfer, crypto, or gift cards (or gift card PIN numbers)," the post said.

"The enthusiastic new hire will deposit the check and front the forwarded funds out of their own pocket, assuming the deposited check will cover the costs," the FTC added. "By the time the bank tells the person the check is a phony, the 'employer' is long gone — with untraceable cash or cards in hand. It's a fake check scam dressed up as a job opportunity."

Rathod said if you've been targeted by a scam, stop contact, don't click links, and if you shared personal or financial information, change passwords and reach out to your bank or credit-card company.

Moving the chat elsewhere

Paulson said job seekers should also watch out for messages that try to move the conversation over to a chat app or similar.

Rodriguez said there's a vulnerability window, where early on in the job-search process "bad actors basically try to move professionals or job applicants away from platforms like LinkedIn, and at the same time, job applicants have far less signal about the job or the recruiter or the company."

Posing as an employer

Job seekers can also check against career pages to see if there are any known job scams. Job seeker Marcia Simmons took advantage of those warnings when she was trying to figure out whether emails from supposedly high-profile tech companies were real. They turned out not to be from the actual employers.

"Even though I was still suspicious, it's just a letdown, especially when you think that possibly a company of that caliber saw something that you did or talked to somebody that you worked with and thought that you were worth approaching," Simmons said.

False offerings aren't stopping Simmons from powering through her job search.

"I have received some legitimate interest that I was a little bit skeptical about, and did research and found out it was a real email from a real person," she said. "So while it's made me more cautious, it definitely hasn't made me say no to somebody who ended up being a real person offering a job."

Have you experienced one of these job scams? Reach out to this reporter to share at mhoff@businessinsider.com.

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