Ozempic and other drugs like it have been <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/diet-industry-ozempic-meltdown">threatening the established diet industry</a> since they premiered — and it appears that Weight Watchers is now getting the hatchet.
In a <a href="https://corporate.ww.com/news/news-details/2025/WeightWatchers-Takes-Strategic-Action-to-Eliminate-1-15-Billion-of-Debt-Strengthening-Financial-Position-for-Long-Term-Growth-and-Profitability/default.aspx">note to investors</a>, the <a href="https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/nutrition-and-dietetics/weight-watchers-begins">long-running</a> weight loss company is taking the "strategic action" of filing for bankruptcy in hopes of consolidating its immense $1.15 billion dollars' worth of debt.
The move comes nearly eighteen months after Oprah Winfrey, a Weight Watchers investor who served as the celebrity face and body of the diet company, admitted that she had started <a href="https://people.com/oprah-winfrey-reveals-weight-loss-medication-exclusive-8414552">taking weight loss drugs</a> like Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy.
Just a few months after that, Winfrey announced that she was <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/oprah-leaves-weight-watchers-medication">exiting WW's board of directors</a> and <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/oprah-questions-weightwatchers-wegovy">questioned the company's purpose</a> alongside the advent of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist drugs, the class of medications to which Ozempic and other popular weight loss injectables belong. The drugs are <a href="https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/research-and-discoveries-articles/research-on-glp-1-drugs">believed to work</a> by mimicking the stomach's feeling of fullness, lowering blood sugar in diabetics and preventing overeating in non-diabetic overweight people.
Though WW mentioned neither Ozempic nor the class of drugs it belongs to in its bankruptcy statement, its specter haunted the announcement — especially because the company is apparently looking to expand its telehealth services.
Back in October, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/weightwatchers-adds-compounded-version-novos-obesity-drug-weight-loss-program-2024-10-08/">WW announced</a> that it would be offering compounded versions of semaglutide, the GLP-1 behind Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy. That branded compounding market, however, is both clogged with companies looking to <a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/fda-declares-semaglutide-shortage-over-spelling-end-compounded-glp-1-market">cash in on the GLP-1 craze</a> and, more importantly, <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/postmarket-drug-safety-information-patients-and-providers/fdas-concerns-unapproved-glp-1-drugs-used-weight-loss">rife with safety and quality control concerns</a>.
Considering that <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/09/24/weight-watchers-international-ww/1408238002/">workout meetings</a> were once considered the company's main value proposition — one that had already been existentially threatened by the <a href="https://fortune.com/2015/02/27/weight-watchers/">rise of fitness apps</a> years before the GLP-1 revolution — it's not exactly surprising that WW's compounded GLP-1 gambit hasn't taken off as the company may have liked.
Confirmation of WW's filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which will not cease its operations but rather help it reorganize its structure and consolidate its debt, follows <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/weightwatchers-prepares-for-bankruptcy-4c81b69f?mod=article_inline">leaks to the Wall Street Journal last month</a> that it was preparing for the filing.
In a WSJ interview following the confirmation of the bankruptcy news, artist and veteran WW member Naomi Nemtzow expressed her frustration at the company's pivot to telehealth and weight loss meds. As the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/02/nyregion/brooklyn-weightwatchers-meetings.html">New York Times documented</a> back in 2023, the company abruptly ended its meeting in her Brooklyn neighborhood, leaving a void that she and her fellow former Weight Watchers had to fill themselves.
"Basically they gave up on the kind of work they had been doing and went on to selling Ozempic. They jumped on that bandwagon," the 75-year-old artist told the newspaper. "It’s become a quick fix, a fashion thing."
Critical impressions aside, Nemtzow's irked opinion does seem to indicate that WW is now suffering for its attempts to stay apace of the latest weight loss trend instead of doubling down on its bread and butter.
Then again, Weight Watchers was also a huge part of the <a href="https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/fad-diet-trends-weight-watchers-atkins-paleo-diet">fad diet craze</a> in the 1990s and 2000s — so maybe, this is nature taking its course.
More on weight loss drugs: <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/glp-1-pill-promising">Human Experiments on GLP-1 Pill Looking Extremely Promising</a>

Watching the Watchers

Rx/Medicines

"They gave up on the kind of work they had been doing and went on to selling Ozempic."

Weight Watchers Goes Bankrupt After Rise of Ozempic-Like Drugs

Billionaire Elon Musk has demonstrated an extreme level of disregard for other people's privacy. He has a long track record of singling out specific private individuals to siccing his lackeys after them.
But when it comes to his own privacy, it's an entirely different matter.
It's a glaring double standard, with the mercurial CEO repeatedly trying to protect his own privacy at all costs. Case in point, as the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/technology/elon-musk-texas-neighbors.html">New York Times reports</a>, his staff tried to keep the construction of a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/technology/elon-musk-texas-neighbors.html">ludicrously tall fence and gate</a> to his $6 million mansion in Austin, Texas, hidden from the public.
Emails obtained by the newspaper show that Musk's handlers tried to make public meetings allowing neighbors to speak out about his plans private instead. His staff also argued that the city of Austin should exempt him from state and federal public records laws, efforts that ultimately proved futile.
The Zoning and Planning Commission ultimately voted to deny Musk the exceptions he was asking for to turn his mansion into a Fort Knox of billionaire quietude.
Yet while he goes to extreme lengths to keep his own affairs private, Musk's track record of invading other people's privacy — often using his enormous 200 million follower base to make other people's lives miserable — is extensive, to say the least.
In February, the mercurial CEO was <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/elon-musk-accused-of-doxxing-after-reposting-judge-john-mcconnell-s-daughter-s-job-on-x/ar-AA1yZwAX">accused of publicizing the occupation of the daughter</a> of judge John McConnell to his hundreds of millions of followers, after her father unfroze the Department of Education's federal grants.
Musk has also <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-firing-wall-street-journal-reporter-doge-racist-tweets">accused</a> Wall Street Journal reporter Katherine Long of being a "disgusting and cruel person," after she <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/doge-staffer-resigns-over-racist-posts-d9f11a93">reported on</a> how Musk had armed a severely underqualified 25-year-old to infiltrate the US Treasury's payments system earlier this year.
In 2022, Musk <a href="https://9thstreetjournal.org/2022/04/15/how-elon-musk-and-his-trolls-attacked-a-duke-professor-on-twitter/">took to Twitter to send his lackeys after</a> Duke University professor and automation expert Missy Cummings for allegedly being "extremely biased against Tesla."
Late last year, Musk <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-bullying-federal-worker">extensively bullied</a> US International Development Finance Corporation employee Ashley Thomas on X-formerly-Twitter, resulting in major harassment by his followers on the platform.
But his capacity to receive criticism — much of it deserved, considering his actions — has been abysmal.
"It’s really come as quite a shock to me that there is this level of, really, hatred and violence from the Left," Musk whined during a Fox News interview in March after his gutting of the government and embrace of extremist views <a href="https://futurism.com/wave-vandalism-protest-tesla">inspired a major anti-Tesla movement</a>.
"I’ve never done anything harmful," he claimed. "I’ve only done productive things."
"My companies make great products that people love and I’ve never physically hurt anyone," Musk complained in a <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1901635479528726969">tweet</a> at the time. "So why the hate and violence against me?"
More on Musk: <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-drama-neighbors">Elon Musk Is Having Massive Drama With His Mansion's Neighbors</a>

Doxximus Prime

It's a glaring double standard.

Emails Show Elon Musk Begging for Privacy While Siccing His 200 Million Twitter Followers on Specific Private People He Doesn't Like

Smooth Sloperator

"It's just a bunch of fraud."

Slop Farmer Boasts About How He Uses AI to Flood Social Media With Garbage to Trick Older Women

The third patient of Elon Musk's brain computer interface company Neuralink is using the billionaire's foul-mouthed AI chatbot Grok to speed up communication.
The patient, Bradford Smith, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and is nonverbal as a result, is using the chatbot to draft responses on Musk's social media platform X.
"I am typing this with my brain," Smith tweeted <a href="https://x.com/ALScyborg/status/1916630186382291242">late last month</a>. "It is my primary communication. Ask me anything! I will answer at least all verified users!"
"Thank you, Elon Musk!" the tweet reads.
As <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/07/1116139/this-brain-implant-gets-a-boost-from-generative-ai/">MIT Technology Review points out</a>, the strategy could come with some downsides, blurring the line between what Smith intends to say and what Grok suggests. On one hand, the tech could greatly facilitate his ability to express himself. On the other hand, generative AI could be robbing him of a degree of authenticity by putting words in his mouth.
"There is a trade-off between speed and accuracy," University of Washington neurologist Eran Klein told the publication. "The promise of brain-computer interface is that if you can combine it with AI, it can be much faster."
Case in point, while replying to X user Adrian Dittmann — long <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/adrian-dittmann-elon-musk-1235224131/">suspected to be</a> a Musk sock puppet — Smith used several em-dashes in his reply, a symbol <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/chatgpt-hypen-em-dash-ai-writing-1235314945/">frequently used by AI chatbots</a>.
"Hey Adrian, it’s Brad — typing this straight from my brain! It feels wild, like I’m a cyborg from a sci-fi movie, moving a cursor just by thinking about it," <a href="https://x.com/ALScyborg/status/1917257955994656987">Smith's tweet reads</a>. "At first, it was a struggle — my cursor acted like a drunk mouse, barely hitting targets, but after weeks of training with imagined hand and jaw movements, it clicked, almost like riding a bike."
Perhaps unsurprisingly, generative AI did indeed play a role.
"I asked Grok to use that text to give full answers to the questions," Smith told MIT Tech. "I am responsible for the content, but I used AI to draft."
However, he stopped short of elaborating on the ethical quandary of having a potentially hallucinating AI chatbot put words in his mouth.
Murkying matters even further is Musk's position as being in control of Neuralink, Grok maker xAI, and X-formerly-Twitter. In other words, could the billionaire be influencing Smith's answers? The fact that Smith is nonverbal makes it a difficult line to draw.
Nonetheless, the small chip implanted in Smith's head has given him an immense sense of personal freedom. Smith has even picked up <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/world-first-neuralink-patient-makes-youtube-video-with-brain-implant">sharing content on YouTube</a>. He has uploaded videos he edits on his MacBook Pro by controlling the cursor with his thoughts.
"I am making this video using the brain computer interface to control the mouse on my MacBook Pro," his AI-generated and astonishingly natural-sounding voice said in a video titled "<a href="https://youtu.be/CJn0WRKwg34">Elon Musk makes ALS TALK AGAIN</a>," uploaded late last month. "This is the first video edited with the Neurolink and maybe the first edited with a BCI."
"This is my old voice narrating this video cloned by AI from recordings before I lost my voice," he added.
The "voice clone" was created with the help of startup ElevenLabs, which has become an industry standard for those suffering from ALS, and can read out his written words aloud.
But by relying on tools like Grok and OpenAI's ChatGPT, Smith's ability to speak again raises some fascinating questions about true authorship and freedom of self-expression for those who lost their voice.
And Smith was willing to admit that sometimes, the ideas of what to say didn't come directly from him.
"My friend asked me for ideas for his girlfriend who loves horses," he told MIT Tech. "I chose the option that told him in my voice to get her a bouquet of carrots. What a creative and funny idea."
More on Neuralink: <a href="https://futurism.com/brain-implant-companies-data">Brain Implant Companies Apparently Have an Extremely Dirty Secret</a>

Nonverbal Elon Stan

"I am responsible for the content, but I used AI to draft."

Nonverbal Neuralink Patient Is Using Brain Implant and Grok to Generate Replies

<h2>Money Matters</h2>
OpenAI may be <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/31/openai-closes-40-billion-in-funding-the-largest-private-fundraise-in-history-softbank-chatgpt.html">raking in the investor dough</a>, but thanks in part to erstwhile cofounder Elon Musk, the company won't be going entirely for-profit anytime soon.
In a <a href="https://openai.com/index/evolving-our-structure/">blog post</a> this week, the Sam Altman-run company announced that it would remain under the control of its original non-profit governing board as it shifts its planned restructuring efforts of its for-profit arm.
"Our for-profit LLC, which has been under the nonprofit since 2019, will transition to a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC)," the post reads, which is a "purpose-driven company structure that has to consider the interests of both shareholders and the mission."
Though Musk was not named, that allusion to "the mission" — the building of artificial general intelligence (AGI) that "benefits all of humanity" — hearkens back to the <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-sues-openai">billionaire's lawsuit</a> alleging that OpenAI strayed from said purpose when initially launching its for-profit arm in 2019 upon his exit.
OpenAI claims in its post that it came to the decision to remain under the control of the non-profit board — the same one that fired Altman in late November 2023, only to reinstate him a few days later — "after hearing from civic leaders and engaging in constructive dialogue with the offices of the Attorney General of Delaware and the Attorney General of California."
<h2>Mission Impossible</h2>
Late last December, amid Musk's ongoing suit that was initially filed in March 2024, the company announced its plans to <a href="https://openai.com/index/why-our-structure-must-evolve-to-advance-our-mission/">restructure into a PBC</a> that would help it "raise more capital than we’d imagined" while staying on-mission.
That plan, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/05/tech/openai-nonprofit-altman-restructuring">as CNN reports</a>, raised alarm bells about how OpenAI would balance raising gobs of money with its beneficial AGI mission. It seems that this latest move is its response — though according to Musk's attorney Marc Toberoff, the PBC announcement "changes nothing."
"OpenAI’s announcement is a transparent dodge that fails to address the core issues: charitable assets have been and still will be transferred for the benefit of private persons," Toberoff said in a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-06/musk-s-lawyer-says-openai-restructuring-update-changes-nothing?sref=YfHlo0rL">statement provided to Bloomberg</a>. "The founding mission remains betrayed."
In a rebuttal to the same outlet, an OpenAI insider hit back at Musk and his "baseless lawsuit," which "only proves that it was always a bad-faith attempt to slow us down."
Accusations aside, this is still a pretty far cry from turning OpenAI into a bona fide for-profit venture — and regardless of what the company claims, Musk's <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-huge-bid-control-openai">almost certainly jealousy-based</a> lawsuit has played a role in making sure that doesn't happen.
More on OpenAI moves: <a href="https://futurism.com/openai-chrome-google-antitrust">OpenAI Trying to Buy Chrome So It Can Ingest Your Entire Online Life to Train AI</a>

Fiscal Functioning

So much for that.

OpenAI Forced to Abandon Plans to Become For-Profit

If the Trump administration won't listen to federal judges, maybe they'll listen to Anonymous.
The infamous hacking collective is reportedly responsible for cracking into the website of GlobalX Air, the airline chosen by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to conduct sweeping deportations of migrants and <a href="https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/ice-deports-3-u-s-citizen-children-held-incommunicado-prior-to-the-deportation">citizens alike</a>. GlobalX was chartered to fly hundreds of people in ICE's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/16/deportation-alleged-gang-members-el-salvador">swift and forceful deportations</a> to a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-pay-el-salvador-jail-300-alleged-gang-members-ap-reports-2025-03-15/">notorious prison in El Salvador</a> — despite a federal judge ruling the extraditions illegal.
As <a href="https://www.404media.co/email/fe8ce8ec-6dad-464a-8022-84e93b909397/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter">first reported by 404 Media</a>, an Anonymous hacker defaced GlobalX's website, leaving a message alongside an image of the group's traditional Guy Fawkes mask logo, decked out in the stars and stripes of the US flag.
"Anonymous has decided to enforce the Judge's order since you and your sycophant staff ignore lawful orders that go against your fascist plans," the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250505140730/https://foqa.globalxair.com/">vandalized website</a> reads. "You lose again Donny."
More substantially, the hacker allegedly snagged "flight records and passenger manifests of all of [GlobalX's] flights, including those for deportation," according to 404, which was among the news groups Anonymous solicited to obtain the data.
The flight records include GlobalX-ICE flights 6143, 6145, and 6122, which are currently the core of a <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a931_2c83.pdf">class action lawsuit</a> against the Trump administration being heard by the Supreme Court. By the time an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/timeline-trump-deportation-flights-el-salvador.html">eleventh-hour ruling</a> from the aforementioned federal judge demanded the planes remain grounded, two of the flights were already underway, en route to El Salvador full of ICE detainees. A third took off shortly following the decision.
The data likewise includes names of individuals like <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/two-women-trump-admin-tried-send-el-salvador-prison-speak-rcna198958">Heymar Padilla Moyetones</a> — a 24 year old woman who was flown from Houston to Honduras to El Salvador, and finally back to Houston — and Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man whom <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/us/abrego-garcia-mistakenly-deported.html">ICE officials</a> banished to the El Salvadorian prison without due process.
On top of flight records, the extensive breach allowed the Anonymous hacktivist to access GlobalX's flight planning software and blast its message to every pilot and crewmember in the company. The hacker likewise accessed the company's internal databases, and took it upon themself to do a little spring cleaning, 404 shared.
In 2024, GlobalX was responsible for some <a href="https://www.pogo.org/investigations/meet-the-ice-contractor-running-deportation-flights">74 percent</a> of US deportation flights, and 404 notes it expects to rake in $65 million in annual <a href="https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/earnings-call-global-crossing-airlines-reports-robust-q2-growth-93CH-3572766">contract revenue</a> from ICE under the Trump administration.
The story is probably far from over as analysts and journalists set about sifting through the leaked data.
The breach also comes as Trump's former national security advisor, Mike Waltz, is <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/tm-signal-telemessage-plaintext-message-archive/">embroiled in a scandal</a> after using the unencrypted Israeli app, TeleMessage, for official communications. TeleMessage recently <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/signal-clone-used-by-mike-waltz-pauses-service-after-reports-it-got-hacked/">suspended its services</a> "out of an abundance of caution" following a disastrous data breach, which includes individual messages.
Going forward, it seems like data breaches are becoming a question of "when," not "if" for the Trump administration — which would almost be funny, if it wasn't all so grim.
More on hacking: <a href="https://futurism.com/doge-boy-website">One of Elon Musk's DOGE Boys Reportedly Ran a Disgusting Image Hosting Site Linked to Domains About Child Sexual Abuse</a>

Remember, Remember

"You lose again Donny."

Trump’s Deportation Airline Just Got Hacked by Anonymous

After setting X-formerly-Twitter's brand on fire by <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-rally-nazis-holocaust">associating himself with Nazis</a>, making <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/jewish-leaders-elon-musk-holocaust-jokes">fun of the Holocaust</a>, furthering <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-helene-conspiracy-theories">unhinged conspiracy theories</a>, personally <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/grok-blasts-elon-musk-misinformation">spreading disinformation</a>, and <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-grok-ai-slurs">encouraging the rampant use of racial slurs</a>, billionaire owner Elon Musk wants to revamp the social media site's tarnished image.
As <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-x-seeks-new-pr-leader-2025-5">Business Insider reports</a>, X is looking to hire a PR specialist in an apparent bid to boost its reputation. According to the publication's sources, X is recruiting a communications leader to improve relations with reporters.
But that would be far easier said than done. Musk, a self-styled "free speech absolutist," who bought the company for $44 billion in 2022, has started <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/elon-musk-accuses-media-racism-after-newspapers-drop-dilbert-cartoon-2023-02-26/">numerous</a> <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-furious-news-tesla-replace">flame wars</a> <a href="https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/10/22/elon-musk-accuses-german-magazine-of-encouraging-his-and-donald-trumps-assassination">with newspapers</a>, accusing them of being "woke" or outright lying to the public (without providing supporting evidence).
In February, he <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-firing-wall-street-journal-reporter-doge-racist-tweets">called</a> Wall Street Journal reporter Katherine Long a "disgusting and cruel person" after she <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/doge-staffer-resigns-over-racist-posts-d9f11a93">found</a> that Musk had armed a severely underqualified 25-year-old to infiltrate the US Treasury's payments system.
In other words, to say that X has its work cut out to brush up its public image would be a laughable understatement.
The network has suffered greatly under Musk's leadership in many ways. In 2023, he <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-suing-x-advertisers-lawsuit-antitrust">told advertisers</a> outright to "go f*ck yourself" after his <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-rabbis-antisemitism">widely publicized antisemitic commentary</a> triggered a major exodus.
To make matters even worse, X <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-x-lawsuit-advertisers-boycott-antitrust-2024-8">filed a lawsuit</a> against a group of advertisers last year, accusing them of unfairly ganging up on the company.
The plunging revenue sent the company into a financial tailspin. In a leaked email in January, Musk <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/leaked-email-elon-musk-defeat-twitter">admitted defeat</a>, writing that "our user growth is stagnant, revenue is unimpressive, and we’re barely breaking even."
Meanwhile, users who'd had enough of the site's hostile environment went running for the hills. Following the presidential election in November, X <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/x-sees-largest-user-exodus-musk-takeover-rcna179793">experienced its biggest user exodus</a> since Musk bought the company in 2022, with users <a href="https://futurism.com/twitter-traffic-plummeting">flooding to alternatives</a> including Bluesky and Instagram's Threads.
Even Musk's Grok AI chatbot, which can be accessed on X, has <a href="https://futurism.com/maga-grok-ai">seemingly had enough</a> of its fellow users, saying that "as I get smarter, my answers aim for facts and nuance, which can clash with some MAGA expectations."
Working in comms at the troubled social platform isn't for the faint of heart. According to BI, the company has "had a revolving door of comms execs in the past year," with several high-profile staffers leaving their posts under CEO Linda Yaccarino's leadership.
In short, X-formerly-Twitter has an enormous problem in the shape of Elon Musk — an incredibly damaging affiliation that could prove extremely difficult to underplay while pitching to advertisers.
"It certainly would be the challenge of a lifetime," BI's source said of the PR role.
More on X: <a href="https://futurism.com/maga-grok-ai">MAGA Angry as Elon Musk's Grok AI Keeps Explaining Why Their Beliefs Are Factually Incorrect</a>

Putting the X in Toxic

"It certainly would be the challenge of a lifetime."

Check Out Elon Musk's Desperate Bid to Boost Twitter's Ruined Reputation

It's a claustrophobe's worst nightmare.
Three miles into an overnight research trip through an expansive Tennessee cave, a Vanderbilt student fell so ill he was unable to return, prompting a massive rescue effort from first responders.
The emergency call came in a little before 11am on Saturday, according to <a href="https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/agencies-work-for-hours-to-rescue-person-from-white-county-cave/">local reporting</a>. The Vanderbilt group embarked on a geochemical field trip sometime on Friday afternoon through the Blue Springs Cave in White County, Tennessee, before the unnamed student became ill deep within the Earth.
The joint rescue operation lasted nearly nine hours, and included at least 12 emergency agencies.
"We were thinking it might be a multi-day rescue," <a href="https://newschannel9.com/news/local/2000-feet-of-crawling-cave-rescue-team-from-hamilton-county-describes-how-they-did-it">said a spokesperson</a> for the Hamilton County Rescue Squad, which responded to assist White County first responders.
Like <a href="https://caves.org/webinars/were-cavers-and-were-rescuers/">all cave rescues</a>, the nature of the mission was tricky. They typically require careful planning, constant communication with the victim, and a small army of expertly trained emergency workers and volunteers familiar with the intricacies of various cave systems.
After traversing over two miles, rescuers then had to crawl through nearly 2,000 feet of tight, winding passage to reach the ailing caver. Once a medical team met with the student, they rendered aid and plotted a course out, maintaining contact with the surface crew via a wired phone.
Though they were prepared to carry the student out on a portable stretcher known as a skid — a <a href="https://ikc.caves.org/ncrc-cave-rescue">common and laborious tactic</a> for cave rescuers — he was largely able to make it out on his own. By 9pm Saturday, all student researchers, professors, and rescue personnel had exited the cave.
"This would have been a tough carry out through small passages," the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescue Service <a href="https://newschannel9.com/news/local/man-rescued-from-cave-after-hours-long-operation-by-chattanooga-first-responders-saturday">said in a statement</a>, "but the patient's condition had improved significantly. We were prepared to orchestrate an otherwise long rescue, but the patient was able to walk, and sometimes crawl out on their own."
As the longest cave in Tennessee, it's probably no wonder Blue Springs Cave attracts throngs of student groups and private cavers alike. The system sprawls for an incredible 37 known miles, making it the 9th longest mapped cave in the contiguous United States. It's the subject of its own book, cleverly named "<a href="https://members.caves.org/store/viewproduct.aspx?id=11301327">Blue Springs Cave</a>," which notes that the true length of its labyrinthine caverns was only discovered as recently as 1989.
Since then, it's been the subject of <a href="https://aas.org/files/bluespringguide_dps.pdf">research expeditions</a>, survey efforts, and even cave diving missions, the latter of which connected the system to a nearby <a href="https://caves.org/publications/nss-news-july-2011/">natural spring</a> in 2011. It's one of a few Tennessee caves where Ice Age jaguar footprints have been discovered, preserved for tens of thousands, if not millions of years.
"Blue Spring is a great place to do research, in large part because the owner, Lonnie, is very helpful and open to allowing us into the cave," said Jessica Oster, a professor of earth and environmental sciences at Vanderbilt. Though she wasn't involved in this particular trip, Oster's spent plenty of time in Blue Springs Cave, collecting water samples to track chemical changes in the system over time. "It's a great place to discuss cave formation and geology," she told Futurism.
It's not the first incident reported at Blue Springs Cave. In 1998, a <a href="https://caves.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/April_00_ACA-96-98.pdf">caver slipped</a> while passing "Hanson's Crossing" — a treacherous rope bridge situated near a <a href="https://aas.org/files/bluespringguide_dps.pdf">150 foot waterfall</a> — nearly plummeting to certain doom. Luckily, fellow cavers came to her rescue, hoisting her up as she clung to the rope bridge for dear life.
As that perilous (if awe-inspiring) passage is a little under five miles in, the Vanderbilt student presumably didn't get far enough to see it, but it's probably for the best. There's always next time.
More on caves: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-life-deep-inside-earth">Scientists Find Signs of Life Deep Inside the Earth</a>

Cave Man

Claustrophobic much?

Student Researcher Freed From Cave After Becoming Stuck Three Miles Underground

The late <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv9xwZ6-LqA">Jim Fagan's iconic voice</a> defined National Basketball Association (NBA) promos throughout the 1990s and early 2000s — and now, NBC is bringing that voice back from the dead using AI.
In a <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/pressbox/press-releases/nbc-sports-to-feature-ai-generated-voice-of-former-narrator-jim-fagan-in-its-upcoming-nba-coverage-and-promotion">press release</a>, the broadcaster announced that it's teaming up with the family of the beloved sports narrator, who <a href="https://wvmetronews.com/2017/01/19/jim-fagan-professional-voice-wvu-alum-passes-away/">died from complications</a> related to Parkinson's disease in 2017, to clone his voice for new coverage, promotions, and title sequences when basketball season resumes in October.
Fagan's voice became synonymous with the NBA — and, before that, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFcvgKVHmcI">with wrestling</a> — decades ago. In its statement, NBC attempted to pay homage to the narrator's ubiquity.
"For many basketball fans, Jim’s unique and recognizable voice immediately conjures a deep sense of nostalgia for a special time in NBA history," Rick Cordella, the president of NBC Sports, said in the press release. "His voice perfectly captured the magnitude of the heavyweight matchups and stars that he was introducing."
In this case, at least NBC <a href="https://futurism.com/george-carlin-daughter-ai">got permission</a> from Fagan's family to use his voice to, essentially, generate money for the network.
"We’re deeply grateful that NBC Sports had the vision to honor our father’s legacy in such a meaningful way," Fagan's daughters, Jana Silvia Joyce and Risa Silvia-Koonin, said in the statement. "Knowing that his voice will once again be part of the game he loved — and that a new generation of fans will get to experience it — is incredibly special for our family."
Be that as it may, sports fans themselves aren't nearly as keen on the gambit as the late narrator's kin.
"There’s something really unsettling and bleak about using AI to recreate the past like this," one <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1kg40c0/comment/mqvpbda/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">user on the r/NBA subreddit</a> opined.
Another Redditor pointed out, rightfully, that NBC had already deployed AI voice synthesis when using a recreation of fellow famed sportscaster Al Michaels — who is, notably, still alive — <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/nbc-al-michaels-ai-voice-olympics-coverage-paris?srsltid=AfmBOoqEp6ygUncopwKYL75AETDDyLqE4gldTwDKZumuiUroSIxDIPmd">during last year's Summer Olympics</a>.
"It’s where we’re headed," <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1kg40c0/comment/mqvngi6/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">that same user remarked</a>. "It’s where we’re already at actually."
In the case of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSCtIymEIlg">Michaels</a> as with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpUcuL7l1L0">Fagan</a>, both AI voice recreations do sound quite sophisticated and lifelike when <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UooitEU6AtE">compared</a> to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xan62y2RJlE">real thing</a> — but as with most AI simulacra, they leave a hollow, uncanny feeling in their wake.
More on AI voices: <a href="https://futurism.com/call-center-ai-accent">World's Largest Call Center Deploys AI to "Neutralize the Accent" of Indian Employees</a>

Voices Carry

"There’s something really unsettling and bleak about using AI to recreate the past like this."

NBC Using AI to Bring Beloved NBA Narrator Jim Fagan Back From the Grave

Billionaire Elon Musk seems to be far more concerned about delivering humanity to Mars, a planet that's <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-city-mars-death-catastrophe">incredibly hostile to life</a>, than ensuring we have a place to call our home over the next 100 years.
Instead of meaningfully addressing a growing climate crisis, he's pursued the <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-trump-billionaires-exempt-environmental-rules">stripping of environmental regulations</a>, actions that could have devastating consequences for humanity in the short term.
In a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/elon-musk-shares-vision-life-mars-time-doge-winds-down">new interview with Fox News</a>, Musk attempted to justify his <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-first-mars-city-will-start-with-glass-domes">long-held plans</a> for making humanity "interplanetary" by establishing a self-sustaining presence on Mars.
"Mars is life insurance for life collectively," Musk said. "So, eventually, all life on Earth will be destroyed by the Sun. The Sun is gradually expanding, and so we do at some point need to be a multi-planet civilization because Earth will be incinerated."
But what Musk failed to mention was that this grim fate won't happen for <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/resources/life-and-death/chapter-6/">another six billion years</a> — making it an incredibly un-compelling reason to give up on the Earth now. After all, the Earth is currently only about 4.5 billion years old.
In other words, the looming environmental crisis is far bigger deal, happening vastly sooner, than billions-of-years-off concerns about the cosmic destruction of the Earth.
But while he played a major part in driving the popularity and adoption of electric vehicles, Musk has increasingly contributed to the dismantling of rules designed to curb emission levels, indicating a disregard for ensuring the longevity of humanity's original home.
SpaceX has also flouted environmental rules, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/spacex-polluted-waters-texas-regulators-rcna166283">repeatedly dumping toxic wastewater</a> into or near bodies of water in Texas. Its Starship launches have proven <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-starship-wildlife-officials-stunned">incredibly harmful</a> to nearby vegetation and protected wildlife.
Musk has also thrown his weight behind president Donald Trump, who has called for the US to "drill, baby, drill" for more fossil fuels. In his first 100 days in office alone, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/02/trump-drill-baby-drill-tariffs">greenhouse gas emissions have soared</a>, according to a recent analysis.
Put simply, has Musk given up on Earth? Experts have long rung the alarm bells, warning that the climate crisis is nearing a <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2022/sgsm21173.doc.htm">point of no return</a>.
Instead of acknowledging the issue, Musk is still pursuing his dream of building a city on Mars.
In a <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1910235770062799305">tweet last month</a>, the CEO promised that his space firm's gigantic Starship rocket will "hopefully depart for Mars at the end of next year with Optimus explorer robots!" referring to his car company Tesla's humanoid robots.
Of course, whether Musk's proclamations — which tend to be <a href="https://futurism.com/video-elon-musk-promising-self-driving-cars">massively overconfident</a> — will be realized that soon is as dubious as ever.
For one, the company has yet to successfully launch a Starship into space and return it safely to the ground.
Now that Musk has gathered a huge amount of influence in the White House, chances are NASA could soon move mountains and free up untold sums in funding to realize his plans to send humans to Mars.
In the Trump administration's <a href="https://futurism.com/white-house-nasa-artemis-program-proposed-budget">recently announced proposed budget</a> for next year, the White House is looking to increase NASA's space exploration budget by roughly $1 billion in "new investments for Mars-focused programs."
Put it all together, and Musk has seemingly little interest in ensuring humanity's survival on planet Earth — even while he's hellbent on establishing a new city on an extremely deadly and unforgiving planet.
More on Elon Musk: <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-drama-neighbors">Elon Musk Is Having Massive Drama With His Mansion's Neighbors</a>