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A Wall Street Journal report this week gave an extensive look into how Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a senior Trump adviser, handles his companies and his more than a dozen children. The answer, it seems, is by relying heavily on his longtime right-hand man, Jared Birchall. Birchalls role, as he reportedly said in a phone call, is to protect Elon. Here’s what to know about Musks fixer. Birchalls Early Career Birchall graduated from Brigham Young University in 1999 and spent a year as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs. In 2000, he moved into private wealth management at Merrill Lynch but was fired after a decade for sending correspondence to a client without management approval, according to a regulatory report cited by Bloomberg. He joined Morgan Stanley in 2010, where he managed Musks money as part of a small team. In 2016, Musk recruited Birchall to run his family office, Excession. A Quiet Contrast to Musk Birchall and Musk present starkly different public personas. Birchall, according to Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, is a practicing Mormon who prefers to stay out of the spotlight. Musk, by contrast, thrives on attentionhaving hosted Saturday Night Live and frequently sharing his views on X, the social media platform he owns. The Fixer’s Role Birchalls responsibilities are wide-ranging. According to Bloomberg, he helped arrange the loans from Wall Street that enabled Musk to purchase what was then known as Twitter. He also handled disbursements from Musks super PAC, which supported Donald Trumps presidential campaign. More recently, The Wall Street Journal reported, Birchall has acted as a go-between for Musk and several of the mothers of his children. That has allegedly included acquiring a property in Austin for them to live in and offering secrecy agreements in exchange for large sums of money. Loyalty and Wealth Birchall has remained at Musks side throughout the billionaires meteoric rise. While his exact income is unknown, Bloomberg cited a report estimating that the typical head of a large family office earns between $1 million and $3 million annuallythough his salary may be much higher. In 2020, Birchall reportedly purchased a $2.25 million home in Austin, complete with a pool and tennis court. He also serves as the head of Musks neurotechnology firm, Neuralink. However, Bloomberg noted that Birchall holds no actual executive authority there. His name was added to company documents as a legal formality, and he does not participate in day-to-day operations.
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E-Commerce
Imagine two interns. The first follows instructions to the lettercompiling research, scheduling social media posts, and managing your calendar. The second completes the same tasks but takes it a step furtherfinding additional research sources, streamlining the social media workflow, and proactively suggesting optimal meeting times based on past interactions and behaviors. These two interns, with their overlapping but distinct capabilities, capture the essence of automation versus AI. Both liberate users from tedious manual work, but only one, with its built-in autonomy, is changing the nature of how we interact with technology. At Jotform, weve incorporated automation and AI into our daily processeswe also offer both types of solutions to users. Heres how each serves a unique purposeand how you can leverage them to work smarter. Automation versus AI Im a strong proponent of automation. Its the foundation of my career and my company. I even wrote a book about itto show how automation can free people from the dull, repetitive parts of their jobs. But automation itself is nothing new. Over a century ago, Henry Ford revolutionized manufacturing with the moving assembly line, cutting production time for the Model T from 12 hours to just 90 minutes. That was mechanical automationa system designed to streamline repetitive tasks. The 21st century brought a similar revolution to knowledge work. If you break down your daily workflows, youll likely find parts that can be automated using the right tools or technology. Take a reporter covering breaking news: instead of manually checking for updates every half hour, she sets up Google Alerts to track developments in real-time. Or consider a recruiter: rather than sifting through thousands of applications, they use a tool like Harver to automatically screen candidates based on preset criteria, bringing the most promising applicants to the fore. When I published my book in 2023, we were only beginning to grasp AIs potential. Fast-forward to today, and tools like ChatGPT have evolved dramaticallyexcelling in speed, accuracy, memory, and multimodal capabilities. Automation executes tasks. AI mimics human thinking and reasoning. AI doesnt just follow instructions; it reasons, adapts, and makes decisions. And now, AI agents are taking things a step furtheroperating autonomously, dynamically reasoning through complex situations, and acting without human intervention. I like the analogy Google used in a recent white paper: agents are like chefsgathering ingredients, planning a dish, and making adjustments as they cook. I would add that automation is like a line cookhighly efficient, but following instructions rather than innovating. In todays workplace, automation and AI complement each other. The real power comes in knowing when to use which. Leveraging their strengths Painting with broad strokes, automation tools are ideal for repetitive tasks that require clear, rule-based actions. For instance, you can set an automation tool to redirect any email containing X to a specific folder or flag any X security issue in a system for review by a human employee. Automation shines when it comes to tasks meant to be executed consistently and without variation. AI tools, on the other hand, can add a human-like reasoning element to a task or workflow. Its ideal for situations that require dynamic responses. For example, imagine an AI agent that doesnt just transcribe your meetings, but also provides a personalized recap, compiles action items, and even drafts follow-up emailsall tailored to your role in the organization or meeting. While executing tasks, the agent applies judgment and adapts as it goes. The beauty of agents, the latest advance in AI, is the power to design them based on your unique needs and circumstances. For instance, I wanted an AI agent to help wrangle my email inbox, so I built one according to my personal goals: parsing out spam, flagging time-sensitive messages, and redirecting items to read later. That way, I can check email twice or three times a day, knowing Ill be alerted about any urgent messages. I redirect my focus to more impactful work that requires deep focus. So, is AI always the best option? Not necessarily. Consider it like using a laser cutter for a task that a pair of scissors could handle perfectly well. Sometimes, the added investment in AI tools isnt justified when simpler automation will do the trick. It starts with mapping out your workflows and deciding which type of task youd like to delegatewhether it requires mere execution or a higher level of judgment and reasoning. Final thoughts Automation and AI are two sides of the same coinoffloading work that doesnt require your direct involvement and recapturing more time for meaningful tasks involving creativity and strategic thinking. By removing boring, tedious work from your plate, they also serve in the battle against burnout, which has become all too common in a world obsessed with busyness. The key is knowing when to use each. If automation improves your efficiency, AI tools can boost your reasoning and decision-making. Combined, AI and automation dont just save time; they change how we approach work.
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E-Commerce
Netflix fared better than analysts anticipated during the first three months of the year, signaling the world’s largest video streaming service is still thriving as President Donald Trump’s policies cast a pall on the economy.The numbers released Thursday indicated Netflix is still building on the momentum that enabled it to add 41 million worldwide subscribers last yearthe biggest annual gain in the company’s 27-year history.But it’s unclear precisely how many more subscribers Netflix picked up during the January-March period because this report marks the first time that that the Los Gatos, California, company hasn’t provided a quarterly update on its total subscribers.Netflix announced last year it would no longer report subscriber numbers beginning with this quarter as the company seeks to shift investors’ focus to its profits after topping 300 million global subscribers in December. As part of that emphasis, Netflix is working to sell more advertising to supplement subscription dollars.Netflix’s sharper focus on its finances paid off in this year’s first quarter with earnings of $2.9 billion, or $6.61 per share, a 24% increase from from the same time last year. Revenue climbed 13% from the same time last year to $10.54 billion. Both numbers exceeded forecasts compiled by FactSet Research. Without providing details, Netflix cited ongoing subscriber growth as the main reason for its strong start this year.The robust growth came against a background of economic chaos and Trump’s fluctuating trade war. The tech industry has been hit particularly hard by the sweeping tariffs that Trump unveiled April 2 because so many bellwether companies rely on international supply chains that have been provided some relief by temporary freezes and exemptions from the fees.But Netflix’s global streaming service hasn’t been touched by Trump’s tariffs yet, making the company a notable exception that has enabled its stock price to increase 9% so far this year, while the market values of most other major tech companies have plummeted.“Netflix remains a standout in an otherwise volatile tech landscape,” said Andrew Rocco, a who tracks the stock market for Zacks Investment Research.The company’s shares rose nearly 3% in extended trading after its report came out.The trade war could still hurt Netflix if it triggers a recession or fuels inflationary pressures as many economists fear. In those scenarios, more consumers may curtail their discretionary spending on entertainment.The economic volatility could also result in a slowdown in advertising to the detriment of Netflix’s efforts to sell more commercials for a low-priced version of its streaming service that accounted for most of its last year’s subscriber growth.“We’re paying close attention clearly to the consumer sentiment and where the broader economy is moving,” Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said during a Thursday conference call. “But based on what we are seeing by actually operating the business right now, there’s nothing really significant to note.”Peters also said Netflix’s low-cost option, currently priced at $8 per month in the U.S., should help insulate its video streaming service if households start tightening their belts.In a sign of its confidence, Netflix reaffirmed its previous prediction for annual revenue of roughly $44 billion, up 13% from 2024.“Historically in tougher economies, home entertainment value is really important to consumer households,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos noted during the conference call. Michael Liedtke, AP Technology Writer
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E-Commerce
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