The billionaire spoke with The Wall Street Journal ahead of his coming book, Source Code.

In an exclusive excerpt from his new memoir, the co-founder of Microsoft describes his lucky adolescence and his parents support for what he now sees as his own neurodivergence.

In an exclusive excerpt from his new memoir, the co-founder of Microsoft describes his lucky adolescence and his parents support for what he now sees as his own neurodivergence.

It's a truism at this point to say that Americans own a lot of guns. Case in point: This week, a fire chief in rural Alabama stopped to help a driver who had just hit a deer. The two men walked up the driveway of a nearby home. For reasons that remain unclear, a man came out of the house with a gun and started shooting. This was a bad idea on many levels, but most practically because both the fire chief and the driver were also armed. Between the three of them, everyone got shot, the fire chief died, and the man who lived in the home was charged with murder.But despite the ease of acquiring legal weapons, a robust black market still exists to traffic in things like "ghost guns" (no serial numbers) and machine gun converters (which make a semi-automatic weapon into an automatic). According to a major new report released this month by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, there was a 1,600 percent increase in the use of privately made "ghost guns" during crimes between 2017 and 2023. Between 2019 and 2023, the seizure of machine gun converters also increased by 784 percent.Ars Technica has covered these issues for years, since both "ghost guns" and machine gun converters can be produced using 3D-printed parts, the schematics for which are now widely available online. But you can know about an issue and still be surprised when local prosecutors start talking about black market trafficking rings, inept burglary schemes, murderand 3D printing operations being run out of a local apartment.Philadelphia storyI live in the Philadelphia area, and this is a real Philadelphia story; I know all of the places in it well. Many people in this story live in Philadelphia proper, but the violence (and the 3D printing!) they are accused of took place in the suburbs, in places like Jenkintown, Lower Merion township, and Bucks County. If you know Philly at all, you may know that these are all west and northwest suburban areas and that all of them are fairly comfortable places overall. Indeed, The New York Times ran a long story this month called "How Sleepy Bucks County Became a Rival to the Hamptons." Lower Merion is one of the wealthier Philly suburbs, while Jenkintown is a charming little northwest suburb that was also the setting for the long-running sitcom The Goldbergs. Local county prosecutors are more often busting up shipments of fake Jason Kelce-autographed merch or going afterand later not going aftercomedian Bill Cosby.But today, prosecutors in Montgomery County announced something different: they had cracked open a local 3D-printing black market gun ringand said that one of the group's 3D-printed guns was used last month to murder a man during a botched burglary. Mug shots of Fuentes and Fulforth. Credit: Montco DA's Office It's a pretty bizarre story. As the police tell it, things began with 26-year-old Jeremy Fuentes driving north to a Bucks County address. Fuentes worked for a junk hauling company in nearby Willow Grove, and he had gone to Bucks County to give an estimate for a job. While the homeowner was showing Fuentes around the property, Fuentes allegedly noticed "a large gun safe, multiple firearms boxes, gun parts and ammunition" in the home.Outside of work, Fuentes was said to be a member of a local black market gun ring, and so when he saw this much gun gear in one spotand when he noted that the homeowners were elderlyhe saw dollar signs. Police say that after the estimate visit, Fuentes contacted Charles Fulforth, 41, of Jenkintown, who was a key member of the gun ring.Fuentes had an idea: Fulforth should rob the home and steal all the gun-related supplies. Unfortunately, the group was not great at directions. Fuentes didn't provide complete and correct information, so when Fulforth and an accomplice went to rob the home in December 2024, they drove to a Lower Merion home instead. This home was not in Bucks County at allin fact, it was 30 minutes southbut it had a similar street address to the home Fuentes had visited.When they invaded the Lower Merion home on December 8, the two burglars found not an elderly couple but a 25-year-old man named Andrew Gaudio and his 61-year-old mother, Bernadette. Andrew was killed, while Bernadette was shot but survived.Police arrested Fulforth just three days later, on December 11, and they picked up his fellow burglar on December 17. But the cops didn't immediately realize just what they had stumbled into. Only after they searched Fulforth's Jenkintown apartment and found a 9 mm 3D-printed gun did they realize this might be more than a simple burglary. How had Fulforth acquired the weapon?According to a statement on the case released today by the Montgomery County District Attorney, the investigation involved "search warrants on multiple locations and forensic searches of mobile phones," which revealed that Fulforth had his own "firearm production facility"aka, "a group of 3D printers." Detectives even found a video of a Taurus-style gun part being printed on the devices, and they came to believe that the gun used to kill Andrew Gaudio was "one of many manufactured by Fulforth."In addition to making ghost gun parts at his "highly sophisticated, clandestine firearms production facility," Fulforth was also accused of making machine gun converters with 3D-printed parts. These parts would be preinstalled in the guns that the group was trafficking to raise their value. According to investigators, "From the review of the captured cellphone communications among the gun trafficking members, the investigation found that when [machine gun conversion] switches were installed on AR pistols, it increased the price of the firearm by at least $1,000."Fuentes, who had initially provided the address that led to the murder, was arrested this morning. Authorities have also charged five others with being part of the gun ring.So, a tragic and stupid story, but one that highlights just how mainstream 3D-printing tech has become. No massive production facility or dimly lit warehouse is neededjust put a few printers in a bedroom and you, too, can become a local gun trafficking kingpin.There's nothing novel about any of this, and in fact, fewer people were shot than in that bizarre Alabama gun battle mentioned up top. Still, it hits home when a technology I've both written and read about for years on Ars shows up in your communityand leaves a man dead.

exit strategy WHO starts cutting costs as US withdrawal date set for January 2026 The US is currently the WHO's biggest funder, contributing about 18% of its budget. Beth Mole Jan 24, 2025 5:27 pm | 50 World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at a press conference on the World Health Organization's 75th anniversary in Geneva, on April 6, 2023. Credit: Getty | FABRICE COFFRINI World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at a press conference on the World Health Organization's 75th anniversary in Geneva, on April 6, 2023. Credit: Getty | FABRICE COFFRINI Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreThe World Health Organization has begun cost-cutting measures in preparation for a US withdrawal next year, according to reporting by Reuters.On his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the United Nation's health agency. The country was a founding member of the WHO in 1948 and has since been a key member of the organization, which has 193 other member states. The executive order cited Trump's long-standing complaints about the agency's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, dues payments, and alleged protection of China as the reasons for the withdrawal.In a statement on Tuesday, the WHO said it "regrets" the announcement and hopes the US will reconsider."WHO plays a crucial role in protecting the health and security of the worlds people, including Americans, by addressing the root causes of disease, building stronger health systems, and detecting, preventing and responding to health emergencies, including disease outbreaks, often in dangerous places where others cannot go," the statement reads. "For over seven decades, WHO and the USA have saved countless lives and protected Americans and all people from health threats. Together, we ended smallpox, and together we have brought polio to the brink of eradication. American institutions have contributed to and benefited from membership in WHO."Under a 1948 Joint Resolution of Congress, a US withdrawal from the WHO requires a one-year notice period. A spokesperson for the United Nations confirmed to Reuters on Thursday that it received a notice from the US of its intent to withdraw dated January 22, making the formal withdrawal date January 22, 2026.Just stupidOn January 23, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus sent a memo to staff announcing the cost-cutting measures. Reuters obtained a copy of the memo."This announcement has made our financial situation more acute," Tedros wrote, referring to the US withdrawal plans. WHO's budget mainly comes from dues and voluntary contributions from member states. The dues are a percentage of each member state's gross domestic product, and the percentage is set by the UN General Assembly. US contributions account for about 18 percent of WHO's overall funding, and its two-year 2024-2025 budget was $6.8 billion, according to Reuters.To prepare for the budget cut, WHO is halting recruitment, significantly curtailing travel expenditures, making all meetings virtual, limiting IT equipment updates, and suspending office refurbishment."This set of measures is not comprehensive, and more will be announced in due course," Tedros wrote, adding that the agency would do everything it could to protect and support staff.The country's pending withdrawal has been heavily criticized by global health leaders and US experts, who say it will make the world less safe and weaken America. In a CBS/KFF Health News report examining the global health implications of the US withdrawal, Kenneth Bernard, a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University who served as a top biodefense official during the George W. Bush administration, did not mince words:"It's just stupid," Bernard said. "Withdrawing from the WHO leaves a gap in global health leadership that will be filled by China," he said, "which is clearly not in America's best interests."Beth MoleSenior Health ReporterBeth MoleSenior Health Reporter Beth is Ars Technicas Senior Health Reporter. Beth has a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended the Science Communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She specializes in covering infectious diseases, public health, and microbes. 50 Comments

Firefighters in California during a prescribed burnSan Francisco Chronicle via GettyYou can fight fire with fire, even in the flammable forests of the western US.According to an analysis of Californias record-breaking 2020 fire season, intentionally burning land can reduce the severity and amount of smoke from wildfires that burn those areas later on, even when accounting for smoke from the intentional fires themselves. We show that there is a net benefit, says Makoto Kelp at Stanford University in California.The idea of prescribed burning is

Crushed rocks are spread on fields to absorb carbon dioxide from the airSO-Photography/AlamyUsing crushed rock dust to speed up the rate at which soils absorb carbon dioxide could also affect the climate by making Earths surface reflect more or less of the suns radiation.Enhanced rock weathering (ERW), as it is known, is rapidly growing around the world as scientists and businesses hunt for ways to capture carbon from the atmosphere.It involves sprinkling crushed volcanic rock, such as basalt, onto soils

Meta begins testing ads on Threads, aiming to monetize its X competitor launched in 2023.The ad rollout comes amid TikTok's challenges and advertisers' concerns with X.Meta reassures advertisers with brand safety measures and AI tools for ad placement.Meta announced Friday that it's beginning to test ads on Threads. This marks the company's first attempt to generate revenue from its X/Twitter competitor since launching the platform in 2023.The initial test will roll out to a small group of users in the US and Japan, where ads will appear as image posts within users' feeds. Advertisers can extend their existing Meta campaigns to Threads by simply checking a box, Meta's blog post said."We'll closely monitor this test before scaling it more broadly, with the goal of getting ads on Threads to a place where they are as interesting as organic content," Adam Mosseri, who heads Instagram and Threads, posted on the platform.Threads is now used by 300 million active users each month, according to Meta, and three out of four Threads users follow at least one business account, the company said.The timing of the ad rollout appears strategic, as the social media landscape faces upheaval. Meta's push into Threads advertising follows recent turmoil at TikTok, which faces potential restrictions in the US, and continued advertiser wariness around X under Elon Musk's ownership.Meta executives have spent recent weeks reassuring advertisers about the company's decision to relax content moderation policies and end its third-party fact-checking program.At the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, Meta's head of global business, Nicola Mendelsohn, told Business Insider that the company's brand safety commitments would remain unchanged despite the shift toward what CEO Mark Zuckerberg called a return to "free expression.""As with most things Meta does in the marketplace, timing is everything," Ted Harrison, former Head of Production at Twitter/X and founder of Neuemotion, told BI."Meta may have investments in a plethora of other areas, but this move at the moment is a clear capitalization for their core business on the signals audiences and advertisers are sending on wanting to find a home off of X."Meta said that it is implementing brand safety measures to attract advertisers who may be hesitant about platform content. One of the company's brand safety measures includes AI-powered tools that let advertisers control what content their ads appear next to. Meta said it will expand third-party advertising verification tools and language support in the coming months as it gradually scales up the advertising program based on initial test results."One of the greatest benefits that Meta has over any stand-alone platform with similar content and ad units is that advertisers can programmatically place their ads across Meta's entire ecosystem based on real-time efficiency," Jack Johnston, senior social innovation director at Tinuiti, a digital marketing firm, told BI. "When Meta first rolled out Reels, that is how most advertisers purchased inventory so they could ease into the placement."However, Meta executives have tempered revenue expectations in the past.During the company's third-quarter 2024 earnings call, Susan Li, its chief financial officer, told analysts that while the company was "pleased" with Threads' growth, it didn't "expect Threads to be a meaningful driver of 2025 revenue."Baruch Labunski, founder and CEO of digital marketing agency Rank Secure, told BI that "making great ads" would be a key differentiator for Threads from X."The user base on Threads has grown considerably, partially from those fleeing X after the Musk takeover," Labunski said. "It must focus on making great ads to compete."Do you work at Meta? Contact this reporter from a nonwork email and device at pdixit@insider.com or pranavdixit@protonmail.com. You can also reach him securely via Signal at . Your identity will be protected.

Starbucks' new CEO, Brian Niccol, made nearly $100 million in his first four months running the company.His total compensation between taking the gig in September and the end of 2024 was $95,801,676.The pay was mostly in stock awards but also included a $5 million bonus after one month on the job.Starbucks' new CEO, Brian Niccol, made almost $100 million in his first four months at the company, a new filing shows.Niccol's executive compensation package for 2024, valued at $95,801,676, encompasses the total pay he earned between taking the gig on September 9 and the end of the year. While the compensation was mostly in stock awards his base salary is $61,538, before his award of $90,291,772 worth of stocks his pay package also included a $5 million sign-on bonus after completing his first month on the job.The package also included $418,071 in additional compensation, which the filing indicates includes $143,567 of temporary housing expenses as Niccol was not required to relocate from his home in Southern California to the company's headquarters in Seattle, and instead supercommutes using Starbucks' company jet.Niccols' commute costs the company an additional $72,398 of expenses "related to his use of Starbucks aircraft for travel between his city of primary residence and Starbucks headquarters" and $19,367 "related to his other personal use of Company aircraft," the filing notes."Mr. Niccol's aircraft expenses represent the aggregate incremental cost incurred by the Company to operate the aircraft for such use, including fuel costs, flight crew travel expenses, in-flight catering, landing fees, communication expenses, and other trip-related variable costs, and do not include fixed costs that would be incurred regardless of whether there was any non-business use of the aircraft, such as aircraft purchase costs, pilot and crew salaries, insurance costs, and maintenance," the filing reads. "For trips that involve mixed non-business and business usage, we include the incremental cost of any non-business usage (i.e., the excess of the cost of the actual trip over the cost of a hypothetical trip without the non-business usage)."Starbucks also footed the bill for $6,303 in COBRA insurance reimbursements, $48,671 in reimbursements in legal fees related to negotiations over the terms of his employment, and $127,765 worth of physical protection security expenses."Personal driver services were provided to Mr. Niccol at no incremental cost and is fulfilled by Starbucks salaried partners as part of his executive protection support," the filing reads.

The Logoff is a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.Welcome to The Logoff the newsletter that gives you the Trump news you need so that you can log off and get back to the rest of your life. A quick request: If youve found this newsletter useful this week, please forward it to a friend and tell them to sign up it really helps us out.President Donald Trump made headlines today with a threat to do something he cant accomplish on his own: attaching conditions to disaster aid for California. Well see if Congress goes along. Instead, I want to focus on an area where he does have power: deportations.Mass deportations were one of Trumps most controversial promises. Now, the Trump administration is claiming they have begun, touting deportation flights on military aircraft and ICEs arrest of more than 500 people on Thursday. But deportation flights went out all the time under the Biden administration all thats new here is the use of military aircraft. And 500 arrests are, essentially, a normal day for ICE, at or below their daily average during the final year of the Biden administration.So why am I hearing about this now? A hallmark of the first Trump administration was the president taking something that was already happening and claiming it was the result of his revolutionary leadership. That seems to be whats happening here.So were mass deportations an empty threat? No they just arent happening instantly. Throughout the campaign, experts cautioned that deportations on the scale Trump was promising and his team wants to deliver would require massive spending on ICE agents and detention facilities. Republicans in Congress are promising to deliver those resources. But none of that means they can do it right away.What has changed already? Many things, including a Trump executive order that gives federal immigration agents the authority to raid schools, churches, and other sensitive locations. It remains to be seen how often theyll use it. (ICE is denying a report of agents attempting to enter a Chicago public school, and its not clear yet what happened.)And with that, its time to log off ...I finished todays edition and started to doomscroll immediately but numbly reading social media doesnt change the future and it doesnt make me happy. So I was grateful when I remembered this good Vox piece about the mental and physical health benefits of a short walk. I hope you find it useful too. See you back here on Monday.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More: