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Time Magazine
9 hours ago
- Business
- Time Magazine
The Orb Will See You Now
Once again, Sam Altman wants to show you the future. The CEO of OpenAI is standing on a sparse stage in San Francisco, preparing to reveal his next move to an attentive crowd. 'We needed some way for identifying, authenticating humans in the age of AGI,' Altman explains, referring to artificial general intelligence. 'We wanted a way to make sure that humans stayed special and central.' The solution Altman came up with is looming behind him. It's a white sphere about the size of a beach ball, with a camera at its center. The company that makes it, known as Tools for Humanity, calls this mysterious device the Orb. Stare into the heart of the plastic-and-silicon globe and it will map the unique furrows and ciliary zones of your iris. Seconds later, you'll receive inviolable proof of your humanity: a 12,800-digit binary number, known as an iris code, sent to an app on your phone. At the same time, a packet of cryptocurrency called Worldcoin, worth approximately $42, will be transferred to your digital wallet—your reward for becoming a 'verified human.' Altman co-founded Tools for Humanity in 2019 as part of a suite of companies he believed would reshape the world. Once the tech he was developing at OpenAI passed a certain level of intelligence, he reasoned, it would mark the end of one era on the Internet and the beginning of another, in which AI became so advanced, so human-like, that you would no longer be able to tell whether what you read, saw, or heard online came from a real person. When that happened, Altman imagined, we would need a new kind of online infrastructure: a human-verification layer for the Internet, to distinguish real people from the proliferating number of bots and AI 'agents.' And so Tools for Humanity set out to build a global 'proof-of-humanity' network. It aims to verify 50 million people by the end of 2025; ultimately its goal is to sign up every single human being on the planet. The free crypto serves as both an incentive for users to sign up, and also an entry point into what the company hopes will become the world's largest financial network, through which it believes 'double-digit percentages of the global economy' will eventually flow. Even for Altman, these missions are audacious. 'If this really works, it's like a fundamental piece of infrastructure for the world,' Altman tells TIME in a video interview from the passenger seat of a car a few days before his April 30 keynote address. The project's goal is to solve a problem partly of Altman's own making. In the near future, he and other tech leaders say, advanced AIs will be imbued with agency: the ability to not just respond to human prompting, but to take actions independently in the world. This will enable the creation of AI coworkers that can drop into your company and begin solving problems; AI tutors that can adapt their teaching style to students' preferences; even AI doctors that can diagnose routine cases and handle scheduling or logistics. The arrival of these virtual agents, their venture capitalist backers predict, will turbocharge our productivity and unleash an age of material abundance. But AI agents will also have cascading consequences for the human experience online. 'As AI systems become harder to distinguish from people, websites may face difficult trade-offs,' says a recent paper by researchers from 25 different universities, nonprofits, and tech companies, including OpenAI. 'There is a significant risk that digital institutions will be unprepared for a time when AI-powered agents, including those leveraged by malicious actors, overwhelm other activity online.' On social-media platforms like X and Facebook, bot-driven accounts are amassing billions of views on AI-generated content. In April, the foundation that runs Wikipedia disclosed that AI bots scraping their site were making the encyclopedia too costly to sustainably run. Later the same month, researchers from the University of Zurich found that AI-generated comments on the subreddit /r/ChangeMyView were up to six times more successful than human-written ones at persuading unknowing users to change their minds. The arrival of agents won't only threaten our ability to distinguish between authentic and AI content online. It will also challenge the Internet's core business model, online advertising, which relies on the assumption that ads are being viewed by humans. 'The Internet will change very drastically sometime in the next 12 to 24 months,' says Tools for Humanity CEO Alex Blania. 'So we have to succeed, or I'm not sure what else would happen.' For four years, Blania's team has been testing the Orb's hardware abroad. Now the U.S. rollout has arrived. Over the next 12 months, 7,500 Orbs will be arriving in dozens of American cities, in locations like gas stations, bodegas, and flagship stores in Los Angeles, Austin, and Miami. The project's founders and fans hope the Orb's U.S. debut will kickstart a new phase of growth. The San Francisco keynote was titled: 'At Last.' It's not clear the public appetite matches the exultant branding. Tools for Humanity has 'verified' just 12 million humans since mid 2023, a pace Blania concedes is well behind schedule. Few online platforms currently support the so-called 'World ID' that the Orb bestows upon its visitors, leaving little to entice users to give up their biometrics beyond the lure of free crypto. Even Altman isn't sure whether the whole thing can work. 'I can see [how] this becomes a fairly mainstream thing in a few years,' he says. 'Or I can see that it's still only used by a small subset of people who think about the world in a certain way.' Yet as the Internet becomes overrun with AI, the creators of this strange new piece of hardware are betting that everybody in the world will soon want—or need—to visit an Orb. The biometric code it creates, they predict, will become a new type of digital passport, without which you might be denied passage to the Internet of the future, from dating apps to government services. In a best-case scenario, World ID could be a privacy-preserving way to fortify the Internet against an AI-driven deluge of fake or deceptive content. It could also enable the distribution of universal basic income (UBI)—a policy that Altman has previously touted—as AI automation transforms the global economy. To examine what this new technology might mean, I reported from three continents, interviewed 10 Tools for Humanity executives and investors, reviewed hundreds of pages of company documents, and 'verified' my own humanity. The Internet will inevitably need some kind of proof-of-humanity system in the near future, says Divya Siddarth, founder of the nonprofit Collective Intelligence Project. The real question, she argues, is whether such a system will be centralized—'a big security nightmare that enables a lot of surveillance'—or privacy-preserving, as the Orb claims to be. Questions remain about Tools for Humanity's corporate structure, its yoking to an unstable cryptocurrency, and what power it would concentrate in the hands of its owners if successful. Yet it's also one of the only attempts to solve what many see as an increasingly urgent problem. 'There are some issues with it,' Siddarth says of World ID. 'But you can't preserve the Internet in amber. Something in this direction is necessary.' In March, I met Blania at Tools for Humanity's San Francisco headquarters, where a large screen displays the number of weekly 'Orb verifications' by country. A few days earlier, the CEO had attended a $1 million-per-head dinner at Mar-a-Lago with President Donald Trump, whom he credits with clearing the way for the company's U.S. launch by relaxing crypto regulations. 'Given Sam is a very high profile target,' Blania says, 'we just decided that we would let other companies fight that fight, and enter the U.S. once the air is clear.' As a kid growing up in Germany, Blania was a little different than his peers. 'Other kids were, like, drinking a lot, or doing a lot of parties, and I was just building a lot of things that could potentially blow up,' he recalls. At the California Institute of Technology, where he was pursuing research for a masters degree, he spent many evenings reading the blogs of startup gurus like Paul Graham and Altman. Then, in 2019, Blania received an email from Max Novendstern, an entrepreneur who had been kicking around a concept with Altman to build a global cryptocurrency network. They were looking for technical minds to help with the project. Over cappuccinos, Altman told Blania he was certain about three things. First, smarter-than-human AI was not only possible, but inevitable—and it would soon mean you could no longer assume that anything you read, saw, or heard on the Internet was human-created. Second, cryptocurrency and other decentralized technologies would be a massive force for change in the world. And third, scale was essential to any crypto network's value. The goal of Worldcoin, as the project was initially called, was to combine those three insights. Altman took a lesson from PayPal, the company co-founded by his mentor Peter Thiel. Of its initial funding, PayPal spent less than $10 million actually building its app—but pumped an additional $70 million or so into a referral program, whereby new users and the person who invited them would each receive $10 in credit. The referral program helped make PayPal a leading payment platform. Altman thought a version of that strategy would propel Worldcoin to similar heights. He wanted to create a new cryptocurrency and give it to users as a reward for signing up. The more people who joined the system, the higher the token's value would theoretically rise. Since 2019, the project has raised $244 million from investors like Coinbase and the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. That money paid for the $50 million cost of designing the Orb, plus maintaining the software it runs on. The total market value of all Worldcoins in existence, however, is far higher—around $1.2 billion. That number is a bit misleading: most of those coins are not in circulation and Worldcoin's price has fluctuated wildly. Still, it allows the company to reward users for signing up at no cost to itself. The main lure for investors is the crypto upside. Some 75% of all Worldcoins are set aside for humans to claim when they sign up, or as referral bonuses. The remaining 25% are split between Tools for Humanity's backers and staff, including Blania and Altman. 'I'm really excited to make a lot of money,' ' Blania says. From the beginning, Altman was thinking about the consequences of the AI revolution he intended to unleash. (On May 21, he announced plans to team up with famed former Apple designer Jony Ive on a new AI personal device.) A future in which advanced AI could perform most tasks more effectively than humans would bring a wave of unemployment and economic dislocation, he reasoned. Some kind of wealth redistribution might be necessary. In 2016, he partially funded a study of basic income, which gave $1,000 per-month handouts to low-income individuals in Illinois and Texas. But there was no single financial system that would allow money to be sent to everybody in the world. Nor was there a way to stop an individual human from claiming their share twice—or to identify a sophisticated AI pretending to be human and pocketing some cash of its own. In 2023, Tools for Humanity raised the possibility of using the network to redistribute the profits of AI labs that were able to automate human labor. 'As AI advances,' it said, 'fairly distributing access and some of the created value through UBI will play an increasingly vital role in counteracting the concentration of economic power.' Blania was taken by the pitch, and agreed to join the project as a co-founder. 'Most people told us we were very stupid or crazy or insane, including Silicon Valley investors,' Blania says. At least until ChatGPT came out in 2022, transforming OpenAI into one of the world's most famous tech companies and kickstarting a market bull-run. 'Things suddenly started to make more and more sense to the external world,' Blania says of the vision to develop a global 'proof-of-humanity' network. 'You have to imagine a world in which you will have very smart and competent systems somehow flying through the Internet with different goals and ideas of what they want to do, and us having no idea anymore what we're dealing with.' After our interview, Blania's head of communications ushers me over to a circular wooden structure where eight Orbs face one another. The scene feels like a cross between an Apple Store and a ceremonial altar. 'Do you want to get verified?' she asks. Putting aside my reservations for the purposes of research, I download the World App and follow its prompts. I flash a QR code at the Orb, then gaze into it. A minute or so later, my phone buzzes with confirmation: I've been issued my own personal World ID and some Worldcoin. While I stared into the Orb, several complex procedures had taken place at once. A neural network took inputs from multiple sensors—an infrared camera, a thermometer—to confirm I was a living human. Simultaneously, a telephoto lens zoomed in on my iris, capturing the physical traits within that distinguish me from every other human on Earth. It then converted that image into an iris code: a numerical abstraction of my unique biometric data. Then the Orb checked to see if my iris code matched any it had seen before, using a technique allowing encrypted data to be compared without revealing the underlying information. Before the Orb deleted my data, it turned my iris code into several derivative codes—none of which on its own can be linked back to the original—encrypted them, deleted the only copies of the decryption keys, and sent each one to a different secure server, so that future users' iris codes can be checked for uniqueness against mine. If I were to use my World ID to access a website, that site would learn nothing about me except that I'm human. The Orb is open-source, so outside experts can examine its code and verify the company's privacy claims. 'I did a colonoscopy on this company and these technologies before I agreed to join,' says Trevor Traina, a Trump donor and former U.S. ambassador to Austria who now serves as Tools for Humanity's chief business officer. 'It is the most privacy-preserving technology on the planet.' Only weeks later, when researching what would happen if I wanted to delete my data, do I discover that Tools for Humanity's privacy claims rest on what feels like a sleight of hand. The company argues that in modifying your iris code, it has 'effectively anonymized' your biometric data. If you ask Tools for Humanity to delete your iris codes, they will delete the one stored on your phone, but not the derivatives. Those, they argue, are no longer your personal data at all. But if I were to return to an Orb after deleting my data, it would still recognize those codes as uniquely mine. Once you look into the Orb, a piece of your identity remains in the system forever. If users could truly delete that data, the premise of one ID per human would collapse, Tools for Humanity's chief privacy officer Damien Kieran tells me when I call seeking an explanation. People could delete and sign up for new World IDs after being suspended from a platform. Or claim their Worldcoin tokens, sell them, delete their data, and cash in again. This argument fell flat with European Union regulators in Germany, who recently declared that the Orb posed 'fundamental data protection issues' and ordered the company to allow European users to fully delete even their anonymized data. (Tools for Humanity has appealed; the regulator is now reassessing the decision.) 'Just like any other technology service, users cannot delete data that is not personal data,' Kieran said in a statement. 'If a person could delete anonymized data that can't be linked to them by World or any third party, it would allow bad actors to circumvent the security and safety that World ID is working to bring to every human.' On a balmy afternoon this spring, I climb a flight of stairs up to a room above a restaurant in an outer suburb of Seoul. Five elderly South Koreans tap on their phones as they wait to be 'verified' by the two Orbs in the center of the room. 'We don't really know how to distinguish between AI and humans anymore,' an attendant in a company t-shirt explains in Korean, gesturing toward the spheres. 'We need a way to verify that we're human and not AI. So how do we do that? Well, humans have irises, but AI doesn't.' The attendant ushers an elderly woman over to an Orb. It bleeps. 'Open your eyes,' a disembodied voice says in English. The woman stares into the camera. Seconds later, she checks her phone and sees that a packet of Worldcoin worth 75,000 Korean won (about $54) has landed in her digital wallet. Congratulations, the app tells her. You are now a verified human. A couple dozen Orbs have been available in South Korea since 2023, verifying roughly 55,000 people. Now Tools for Humanity is redoubling its efforts there. At an event in a traditional wooden hanok house in central Seoul, an executive announces that 250 Orbs will soon be dispersed around the country—with the aim of verifying 1 million Koreans in the next 12 months. South Korea has high levels of smartphone usage, crypto and AI adoption, and Internet access, while average wages are modest enough for the free Worldcoin on offer to still be an enticing draw—all of which makes it fertile testing ground for the company's ambitious global expansion. Yet things seem off to a slow start. In a retail space I visited in central Seoul, Tools for Humanity had constructed a wooden structure with eight Orbs facing each other. Locals and tourists wander past looking bemused; few volunteer themselves up. Most who do tell me they are crypto enthusiasts who came intentionally, driven more by the spirit of early adoption than the free coins. The next day, I visit a coffee shop in central Seoul where a chrome Orb sits unassumingly in one corner. Wu Ruijun, a 20-year-old student from China, strikes up a conversation with the barista, who doubles as the Orb's operator. Wu was invited here by a friend who said both could claim free cryptocurrency if he signed up. The barista speeds him through the process. Wu accepts the privacy disclosure without reading it, and widens his eyes for the Orb. Soon he's verified. 'I wasn't told anything about the privacy policy,' he says on his way out. 'I just came for the money.' As Altman's car winds through San Francisco, I ask about the vision he laid out in 2019: that AI would make it harder for us to trust each other online. To my surprise, he rejects the framing. 'I'm much more [about] like: what is the good we can create, rather than the bad we can stop?' he says. 'It's not like, 'Oh, we've got to avoid the bot overrun' or whatever. It's just that we can do a lot of special things for humans.' It's an answer that may reflect how his role has changed over the years. Altman is now the chief public cheerleader of a $300 billion company that's touting the transformative utility of AI agents. The rise of agents, he and others say, will be a boon for our quality of life—like having an assistant on hand who can answer your most pressing questions, carry out mundane tasks, and help you develop new skills. It's an optimistic vision that may well pan out. But it doesn't quite fit with the prophecies of AI-enabled infopocalypse that Tools for Humanity was founded upon. Altman waves away a question about the influence he and other investors stand to gain if their vision is realized. Most holders, he assumes, will have already started selling their tokens—too early, he adds. 'What I think would be bad is if an early crew had a lot of control over the protocol,' he says, 'and that's where I think the commitment to decentralization is so cool.' Altman is referring to the World Protocol, the underlying technology upon which the Orb, Worldcoin, and World ID all rely. Tools for Humanity is developing it, but has committed to giving control to its users over time—a process they say will prevent power from being concentrated in the hands of a few executives or investors. Tools for Humanity would remain a for-profit company, and could levy fees on platforms that use World ID, but other companies would be able to compete for customers by building alternative apps—or even alternative Orbs. The plan draws on ideas that animated the crypto ecosystem in the late 2010s and early 2020s, when evangelists for emerging blockchain technologies argued that the centralization of power—especially in large so-called 'Web 2.0' tech companies—was responsible for many of the problems plaguing the modern Internet. Just as decentralized cryptocurrencies could reform a financial system controlled by economic elites, so too would it be possible to create decentralized organizations, run by their members instead of CEOs. How such a system might work in practice remains unclear. 'Building a community-based governance system,' Tools for Humanity says in a 2023 white paper, 'represents perhaps the most formidable challenge of the entire project.' Altman has a pattern of making idealistic promises that shift over time. He founded OpenAI as a nonprofit in 2015, with a mission to develop AGI safely and for the benefit of all humanity. To raise money, OpenAI restructured itself as a for-profit company in 2019, but with overall control still in the hands of its nonprofit board. Last year, Altman proposed yet another restructure—one which would dilute the board's control and allow more profits to flow to shareholders. Why, I ask, should the public trust Tools for Humanity's commitment to freely surrender influence and power? 'I think you will just see the continued decentralization via the protocol,' he says. 'The value here is going to live in the network, and the network will be owned and governed by a lot of people.' Altman talks less about universal basic income these days. He recently mused about an alternative, which he called 'universal basic compute.' Instead of AI companies redistributing their profits, he seemed to suggest, they could instead give everyone in the world fair access to super-powerful AI. Blania tells me he recently 'made the decision to stop talking' about UBI at Tools for Humanity. 'UBI is one potential answer,' he says. 'Just giving [people] access to the latest [AI] models and having them learn faster and better is another.' Says Altman: 'I still don't know what the right answer is. I believe we should do a better job of distribution of resources than we currently do.' When I probe the question of why people should trust him, Altman gets irritated. 'I understand that you hate AI, and that's fine,' he says. 'If you want to frame it as the downside of AI is that there's going to be a proliferation of very convincing AI systems that are pretending to be human, and we need ways to know what is really human-authorized versus not, then yeah, I think you can call that a downside of AI. It's not how I would naturally frame it.' The phrase human-authorized hints at a tension between World ID and OpenAI's plans for AI agents. An Internet where a World ID is required to access most services might impede the usefulness of the agents that OpenAI and others are developing. So Tools for Humanity is building a system that would allow users to delegate their World ID to an agent, allowing the bot to take actions online on their behalf, according to Tiago Sada, the company's chief product officer. 'We've built everything in a way that can be very easily delegatable to an agent,' Sada says. It's a measure that would allow humans to be held accountable for the actions of their AIs. But it suggests that Tools for Humanity's mission may be shifting beyond simply proving humanity, and toward becoming the infrastructure that enables AI agents to proliferate with human authorization. World ID doesn't tell you whether a piece of content is AI-generated or human-generated; all it tells you is whether the account that posted it is a human or a bot. Even in a world where everybody had a World ID, our online spaces might still be filled with AI-generated text, images, and videos. As I say goodbye to Altman, I'm left feeling conflicted about his project. If the Internet is going to be transformed by AI agents, then some kind of proof-of-humanity system will almost certainly be necessary. Yet if the Orb becomes a piece of Internet infrastructure, it could give Altman—a beneficiary of the proliferation of AI content—significant influence over a leading defense mechanism against it. People might have no choice but to participate in the network in order to access social media or online services. I thought of an encounter I witnessed in Seoul. In the room above the restaurant, Cho Jeong-yeon, 75, watched her friend get verified by an Orb. Cho had been invited to do the same, but demurred. The reward wasn't enough for her to surrender a part of her identity. 'Your iris is uniquely yours, and we don't really know how it might be used,' she says. 'Seeing the machine made me think: are we becoming machines instead of humans now? Everything is changing, and we don't know how it'll all turn out.'
Time Magazine
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
TIME Studios and TARGO Unveil Groundbreaking Immersive Documentary 'D-Day: The Camera Soldier' for Apple Vision Pro, Marking WWII's 80th Anniversary
Today, TIME Studios, the Emmy Award-winning film, television, and immersive division of TIME, and leading immersive studio TARGO announced the release of D-Day: The Camera Soldier, a 20-minute mixed-reality documentary debuting on Apple Vision Pro. Timed to the 80th anniversary of WWII's end, this experience reimagines historical storytelling through spatial video, AI-restored archives, and interactive elements. Blending cinematic storytelling with spatial video and AI-enhanced archival materials, D-Day: The Camera Soldier transports viewers into a hidden chapter of the D-Day landings. The story follows Jennifer Taylor, who, after decades of silence, embarks on a journey from Connecticut to Normandy to uncover her father's untold legacy as a combat cameraman. Audiences are invited to experience a deeply personal perspective on one of history's pivotal moments. 'At TIME Studios, we are committed to pushing the boundaries of how history is experienced. Non-fiction creators have risked everything to capture truth in its rawest form, forging powerful connections between history and humanity. Richard Taylor stands as a remarkable example of this dedication,' said Loren Hammonds, Head of Documentary at TIME Studios. 'TIME has long been a platform for these voices, from recognizing Richard's D-Day footage in the pages of TIME in 1944 to now, eight decades later, honoring his legacy by bringing his story to life through immersive spatial storytelling.' 'Immersive technology isn't just a glimpse of the future—it's ready now,' said Victor Agulhon, producer and co-founder of TARGO. 'But the real innovation isn't in the tech itself—it's in how we've made it disappear, letting powerful, human stories take the lead.' Key features of the experience include: Direct interaction with authentic WWII relics—viewers can flip through photo albums, handle artifacts, and read letters, mirroring Jennifer's journey. AI-driven remastering transforms 2D wartime footage into dimensional environments, pioneering new documentary techniques. Seamless transitions between levels of immersion, guided by the user's exploration. Executive producers on the project include TIME Studios' Loren Hammonds and Matthew O'Rourke, and TARGO's Victor Agulhon, Chloé Rochereuil, and Anthony Giacchino. 'As an immersive director, my goal is to break the barrier between the audience and the story — and that's exactly what D-Day: The Camera Soldier does,' said Chloé Rochereuil, director and three-time Emmy nominee. 'As Jennifer dives deeper into her father's legacy, the viewer is drawn alongside her, transitioning seamlessly between different levels of immersion in the media.' 'This isn't just a story about the past—it's an invitation into a memory,' said Matthew O'Rourke, Emmy-nominated Executive Producer (MLK: Now Is The Time). 'By blending documentary filmmaking with immersive technology, we're creating a deeply personal way to experience history.' To experience the D-Day Camera Soldier immersive documentary, download it here on the App Store for Apple Vision Pro. About TIME Studios From one of the most globally iconic brands, TIME Studios is an Emmy Award®-winning television, film and immersive studio focusing on the development, production and distribution of premium unscripted and scripted storytelling that moves the world. With technical innovation and a brand defining visual language that dates back 102 years, TIME Studios aims to impact communities and the world at large with ideas that forge true progress. Combining the industry's leading creators with TIME, one of the most trusted brands that reaches an audience of over 120 million people globally, TIME Studios is uniquely positioned to bring massive audiences to the world's most impactful stories. About TARGO TARGO is a leading immersive studio dedicated to creating high-quality nonfiction storytelling in virtual and mixed reality. Known for pushing the boundaries of documentary filmmaking, the Paris-based team has earned three Emmy nominations and critical acclaim for its human-centered, visually striking experiences.
ABC News
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
'A different type of president': TIME magazine's creative director on the tricky task of covering Trump
It's been said that the cover of TIME magazine is the most important real estate in journalism. For more than 100 years, the publication's covers have helped to encapsulate the news into one arresting image every week. Using the now-iconic red border, the covers can be shocking, controversial and always thought-provoking. DW Pine, the magazine's creative director, has been the man responsible for bringing these covers to the world since 2001. He has put some of the world's most recognisable faces on TIME's front page, including Steve Jobs, Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama and Pope Francis. Pine, who has overseen more than 1,000 of TIME's covers, told ABC News Breakfast the incumbent US President Donald Trump has created a unique challenge for the magazine. "We have an interesting relationship with him," he said. "He has famously said that he only likes about 25 per cent of the TIME covers, so from where I sit I think that's actually pretty good." Pine says the magazine is approaching Trump's second term differently to his first. "The first term… we had never seen anybody like him in the United States as the president, at least not in modern day. So we presented the visuals the same way. Lots of scandals, lots of chaos." Pine's favourite Trump cover is the magazine's 'Nothing to See Here' publication from February 27, 2017, just after he was first inaugurated. It portrays Trump subsumed in a thunderstorm in the middle of the Oval Office. "What's great about this cover, is that it's a perfect place for a TIME cover to be," Pine says. "If you're an opponent of the president, you look at that and see all the chaos he's created. And if you're a supporter of his, you see how resolute he is sitting behind the Resolute desk as all the chaos rains around him." Pine also worked with artist Edel Rodriguez to produce the August 22, 2016 cover, titled 'Meltdown', which attracted worldwide attention. "We did eight different covers that was just this single orange and yellow take. We used that quite a bit throughout. It's a tricky balance because you have to treat it with respect. "I actually looked back at some of the old covers and how we treated presidents over the last 100 years and made sure that we were still in keeping with treating the office with respect, even though he was probably the most and still is a different type of president for the United States." Under Pine, TIME also ran its 'Aisha' cover on August 9, 2010, which depicts an 18-year-old woman from Afghanistan, whose nose was cut off by the Taliban. Pine says it was a "very important" image for the magazine. "It's really, really difficult to look at," he told News Breakfast. "She was trying to flee abusive in-laws. The story wasn't really being told at that time. "The editor-in-chief, Rick Stengel, at the time went to child psychologists to make sure what we were doing was okay, that when kids saw this image they were going to be okay with it. "It was important for us to put that on there, even though the visual was very difficult to look at." DW Pine first joined TIME in 1998 as design director before becoming creative director in 2010, overseeing a staff of art directors, designers and researchers. He says each morning starts with a staff meeting where the day's biggest news stories and current events are discussed. Those meetings inform who, or what, will grace the magazine's cover each week. Pine says picking a cover is a weekly challenge that he loves, and one which ultimately helps readers "crystallise this complicated world we're living in". "You get together and figure out what's the important news of the day. And from there, the editor-in-chief and some others decide who is the person. "We tell a lot of stories through people. We found that their lives and experiences are a great way to be able to tell the complicated stories of today and be able to create a really visual storytelling that's what is important for a TIME cover." Pine says the magazine's bold covers are even more important today than when TIME was founded in 1923, calling it a "dream job". "I think people nowadays are really in need of a trusted news source," he says. "I get to work with some of the world's best artists and photographers to help us fill this canvas every single week. "That teamwork, that collaboration process… it really makes it fun to do." DW Pine will be speaking about his career and creative process at Vivid Sydney on May 29.
USA Today
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Books like 'Game of Thrones' to tide you over while you wait for 'Winds of Winter'
Books like 'Game of Thrones' to tide you over while you wait for 'Winds of Winter' Expecting new 'Game of Thrones' books anytime soon? You know nothing, Jon Snow! It's been over a decade since George R.R. Martin last published a book in the "Song of Ice and Fire" series, but fantasy fans have been well fed with the show (though perhaps left hungry by that last season) and 'House of the Dragon' spin-off series. Martin is currently working on his next novel, 'The Winds of Winter,' but calls it 'the curse of my life.' In an interview with TIME following his pictures with real-life dire wolves, Martin said, 'There's no doubt 'Winds of Winter' is 13 years late. I'm still working on it. I have periods where I make progress and then other things divert my attention.' Books like 'Game of Thrones' If you're far too impatient to wait for 'The Winds of Winter' and Season 3 of 'House of the Dragon,' check out these seven high fantasy books with similar themes to 'Game of Thrones.' 'Assassin's Apprentice' by Robin Hobb Martin himself called this 'fantasy as it ought to be written." The first book of the Farseer trilogy follows a prince's bastard son who is treated as an outcast by all except for the king. King Shrewd secretly trains young Fitz as an assassin, harnessing his ancestral magic. Now grown up, he's thrust into dangerous missions where he's both the key to saving the kingdom and the biggest threat to the throne. 'The Dragon's Path' by Daniel Abraham Also loved by Martin is 'The Dragon's Path,' which follows the paths of three characters that lead to a looming all-out war. Marcus has sworn off the battlefield, but when his men are conscripted, he'll have to get creative to stay out of a battle he wants no part of. Cithrin is an orphan tasked with smuggling gold across a war zone, fluent in the secret language of commerce. And Geder is simply a pawn, the heir of a noble house and a lacking soldier who'd rather wax philosophical than wield a sword. 'To Shape a Dragon's Breath' by Moniquill Blackgoose If Daenerys and her dragons were your favorite part of 'Game of Thrones,' you might like 'To Shape a Dragon's Breath.' The story follows 15-year-old Anequs who finds and bonds with a dragon hatchling. She's revered by her Indigenous community, who haven't seen a dragon in generations. But the Anglish conquerors of her land have different ideas about how to raise a dragon – ideas that don't involve Anequs at all. Reluctantly, they let her enroll in Anglish dragon school, but at a cost. If she doesn't succeed, they'll kill her dragon. 'The Ruin of Kings' by Jenn Lyons In the first book of the 'Chorus of Dragons' trilogy, a man who grows up in the slums discovers he's a long-lost prince, the son of a treasonous royal. Suddenly, Kihrin finds himself swept up and essentially imprisoned by his new family, who harbor ruthless political ambitions. As he gains a new understanding of the world and what the storybooks of his childhood lied about, he'll have to understand whether he's meant to save the world or destroy it. 'The Emperor's Blades' by Brian Staveley If you're still mourning Ned Stark, 'The Emperor's Blades' might be for you. The story starts after the emperor of Annur is murdered and follows his three children as they live out the destinies he set for them. Kaden, the heir, remains sequestered in a remote monastery where he must master an ancient power. Valyn is training as an elite soldier oceans away. And Minister Adare is determined to prove herself to her people, but she'll stop at nothing to avenge her father. 'The Grace of Kings' by Ken Liu Loved the warring houses in 'Game of Thrones'? Try 'The Dandelion Dynasty' series, which starts as two unlikely friends come together to rebel against tyranny. Charming bandit Kuni and fearless, royal-born Mata become allies after an adventure filled with fighting armies, airships and shapeshifting gods. But once they've overthrown the emperor, they're left on different sides of the new order as rivals. 'She Who Became the Sun' by Shelley Parker-Chan 'She Who Became the Sun' is perfect for 'Game of Thrones' fans seeking fantasy with vengeance and political stakes. Set in 1345 China under harsh Mongol rule, two children in the Zhu family are given two very different fates – their eighth-born son is destined for greatness, while their second daughter is destined for nothingness. But after a bandit attack leaves the children orphaned, the son dies. The girl must use her brother's identity to escape death, avoid her fate and rise to power. Still looking for the right book? USA TODAY Books has you covered. Taste is subjective, and USA TODAY Books has plenty of genres to recommend. If dystopian sci-fi is your thing, check out the books we suggest reading after "Red Rising" by Pierce Brown. If you want something with lower stakes and loveable characters, see if a "cozy mystery" or "cozy fantasy" book is for you. Or, take a look at our most anticipated reads of summer 2025. If you want the most popular titles, check out USA TODAY's Best-selling Booklist. Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY's Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you're reading at cmulroy@
Time Magazine
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
The Top 10 Best Sneakers of All Time According to AI
This article is published by a partner of TIME. Sneakers have transcended their original purpose as athletic footwear to become cultural icons that define fashion, sports, and streetwear. Once limited to gyms and basketball courts, sneakers now dominate runways, music videos, and everyday wear. Each pair tells a unique story, often tied to pivotal moments in history or groundbreaking innovations in design and technology. From basketball legends to musical icons, sneakers have become a universal symbol of style and self-expression. The journey of sneakers is a testament to their versatility and cultural impact. Whether it's the Air Jordan 1 sparking a revolution in basketball and streetwear, or the Adidas Superstar becoming a beacon of hip-hop culture, sneakers are more than just functional items—they are statements. Their evolution has brought together athletes, artists, and designers, bridging gaps between sports, music, and fashion. This list, using research assistance from ChatGPT, highlights the top 10 best sneakers of all time, each chosen for its cultural resonance, innovation, and influence. These sneakers have cemented their place in history, captivating sneakerheads and casual fans alike. From timeless classics to modern masterpieces, they continue to shape the way we define style and creativity. 1. Nike Air Jordan 1 (1985) The Air Jordan 1 revolutionized basketball and sneaker culture as Michael Jordan's first signature shoe. With its bold design and controversy surrounding the "banned" colorway, it became an instant icon. This sneaker bridged the gap between sports and streetwear, making it a hugely coveted item for collectors. Manufacturer: Nike How many made: Original production run exceeded 500,000 pairs; retro editions frequently sell out. Original and resale cost: $65 (original), up to $20,000+ (resale, depending on rarity and condition). Celebrities who wear them: Michael Jordan, Travis Scott, Drake. Why they are popular: First signature shoe for Michael Jordan; initially banned by the NBA, creating a legendary backstory. Additional interesting facts: Inspired the "banned colorway" myth, boosting its mystique; Released in countless retro versions and collaborations, including the highly coveted Dior x Air Jordan 1. 2. Adidas Superstar (1969) The Adidas Superstar, with its signature shell-toe design, became a cultural phenomenon when adopted by Run-D.M.C. in the 1980s. Initially designed for basketball, it quickly gained popularity as a streetwear staple, influencing generations of sneaker enthusiasts. Manufacturer: Adidas How many made: Tens of millions over decades. Original and resale cost: $45 (original); resale varies but generally affordable. Celebrities who wear them: Run-D.M.C., Pharrell Williams, Beyoncé. Why they are popular: The first low-top basketball shoe with a leather upper; cemented its status in hip-hop culture in the 1980s. Additional interesting facts: Featured in Run-D.M.C.'s hit "My Adidas," sparking a cultural revolution; Known for its enduring style and versatility. 3. Converse Chuck Taylor All Star (1923) The Chuck Taylor All Star is the ultimate timeless sneaker, loved for its simple yet versatile design. Originally created for basketball, it transitioned to becoming a staple of counterculture movements and remains a go-to choice for people of all ages. Manufacturer: Converse How many made: Over 1 billion pairs worldwide. Original and resale cost: $5 (original); typically $50–$100 (modern versions). Celebrities who wear them: Elvis Presley, Rihanna, Wiz Khalifa. Why they are popular: Timeless design and versatility; adopted by athletes, musicians, and skaters alike. Additional interesting facts: Featured in countless movies and pop culture moments; Symbolizes individuality and creative expression. 4. Nike Air Max 1 (1987) The Air Max 1 changed sneaker design forever with its revolutionary visible Air technology. Created by Tinker Hatfield and inspired by the Centre Pompidou in Paris, it set the stage for decades of Air Max innovation and remains a fan favorite. Manufacturer: Nike How many made: Limited runs of original colorways; retro editions are widespread. Original and resale cost: $75 (original); $500–$2,000+ (resale for rare editions). Celebrities who wear them: Kanye West, Serena Williams, G-Dragon. Why they are popular: Introduced visible Air technology, revolutionizing sneaker design. Additional interesting facts: Sparked one of Nike's most successful franchises, the Air Max series. 5. Puma Suede (1968) The Puma Suede holds historical significance for its association with the Black Power salute during the 1968 Olympics. Its simple yet stylish design has made it a favorite in both sports and streetwear, maintaining its relevance for over five decades. Manufacturer: Puma How many made: Millions, with special editions frequently released. Original and resale cost: $30 (original); resale varies depending on edition. Celebrities who wear them: Walt "Clyde" Frazier, Tommie Smith, Jay-Z. Why they are popular: Iconic for its role in sports and civil rights history. Additional interesting facts: Collaboration with Clyde Frazier led to the creation of the Puma Clyde. 6. Reebok Pump (1989) The Reebok Pump introduced new and exciting technology that allowed users to customize the fit of their sneakers. Its association with Dee Brown's iconic dunk contest performance propelled it to legendary status among basketball fans and collectors. Manufacturer: Reebok How many made: Hundreds of thousands initially; retro versions are limited. Original and resale cost: $170 (original); $200–$1,500 (resale for rare editions). Celebrities who wear them: Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Chang, Dee Brown. Why they are popular: Introduced innovative Pump technology, allowing users to customize fit. Additional interesting facts: Spawned collaborations with designers and streetwear brands. 7. Nike Air Yeezy 2 (2012) The Nike Air Yeezy 2 was Kanye West's signature sneaker during his collaboration with Nike. Its exclusivity and bold design, particularly the "Red October" colorway, solidified its place as one of the most sought-after sneakers in history. Manufacturer: Nike How many made: Limited to 5,000 pairs of "Red October" colorway. Original and resale cost: $250 (original); up to $15,000+ (resale). Celebrities who wear them: Kanye West, Jay-Z, Justin Bieber. Why they are popular: Kanye West's signature sneaker; highly sought after due to exclusivity. Additional interesting facts: Paved the way for Kanye's partnership with Adidas and the Yeezy brand. 8. New Balance 574 (1988) The New Balance 574 is a classic sneaker known for its comfort and casual style. It has transcended the "dad shoe" stereotype, becoming a trendy choice for millennials and Gen Z while maintaining its timeless appeal. Manufacturer: New Balance How many made: Millions produced globally. Original and resale cost: $40 (original); $80–$300 (resale for limited editions). Celebrities who wear them: Steve Jobs, Kawhi Leonard, Jack Harlow. Why they are popular: Known for comfort and versatility. Additional interesting facts: Regularly featured in collaborations with popular designers and brands. 9. Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 (2015) The Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 redefined sneaker design with its sleek silhouette and unparalleled comfort. As part of Kanye West's Yeezy line, it became an instant classic, with some colorways becoming grails for sneakerheads. Manufacturer: Adidas How many made: Limited runs of each colorway; some restocks available. Original and resale cost: $200 (original); $500–$1,500 (resale for rare colorways). Celebrities who wear them: Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Pharrell Williams. Why they are popular: Combines sleek design with Adidas Boost technology, offering unparalleled comfort. Additional interesting facts: Colorways like "Turtle Dove" and "Pirate Black" are especially coveted. 10. Air Force 1 (1982) The Air Force 1 remains a staple of hip-hop and basketball culture. Its timeless design, particularly the all-white version, has made it one of the most enduring and beloved sneakers of all time. Manufacturer: Nike How many made: Over 10 million pairs annually; countless variations. Original and resale cost: $90 (original); $200–$2,000 (resale for limited editions). Celebrities who wear them: LeBron James, Travis Scott, Billie Eilish. Why they are popular: Timeless design; celebrated in hip-hop and basketball culture. Additional interesting facts: Known for its customizable options through Nike's "By You" program. Conclusion on Top Sneakers Sneakers are more than just footwear—they are symbols of cultural identity, innovation, and storytelling. Each sneaker on this list has left a lasting impact on history, fashion, and sport, influencing generations and shaping global trends. From the rebellious mystique of the Air Jordan 1 to the groundbreaking technology of the Reebok Pump, these sneakers have redefined what it means to combine form, function, and style. They represent milestones in design and culture and have become integral parts of streetwear and collector communities alike. As trends evolve, these iconic sneakers remain timeless, continuing to inspire new generations of designers, athletes, and enthusiasts. Whether they are worn on the basketball court, the runway, or the streets, these sneakers showcase the power of innovation and cultural resonance. Through their stories and unique designs, they prove that sneakers are more than just shoes—they are legacies. Related Articles: About the Authors: Richard D. Harroch is a Senior Advisor to CEOs, management teams, and Boards of Directors. He is an expert on M&A, venture capital, startups, and business contracts. He was the Managing Director and Global Head of M&A at VantagePoint Capital Partners, a venture capital fund in the San Francisco area. His focus is on internet, digital media, AI and technology companies. He was the founder of several Internet companies. His articles have appeared online in Forbes, Fortune, MSN, Yahoo, Fox Business and Richard is the author of several books on startups and entrepreneurship as well as the co-author of Poker for Dummies and a Wall Street Journal-bestselling book on small business. He is the co-author of a 1,500-page book published by Bloomberg on mergers and acquisitions of privately held companies. He was also a corporate and M&A partner at the international law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. He has been involved in over 200 M&A transactions and 250 startup financings. He can be reached through LinkedIn. Dominique Harroch is the Chief of Staff at She has acted as a Chief of Staff or Operations Leader for multiple companies where she leveraged her extensive experience in operations management, strategic planning, and team leadership to drive organizational success. With a background that spans over two decades in operations leadership, event planning at her own start-up and marketing at various financial and retail companies. Dominique is known for her ability to optimize processes, manage complex projects and lead high-performing teams. She holds a BA in English and Psychology from U.C. Berkeley and an MBA from the University of San Francisco. She can be reached via LinkedIn.
