Graphics chipmaker Nvidia pulled the curtain back on its bitcoin mining-related business for the first time on Thursday. But the real game-changing opportunity for Nvidia is not inside the crowded cryptocurrency mines — it's in the wide open field of artificial intelligence.

So says Benjamin Lau, the chief investment officer of Apriem Advisors, a firm with $650 million under management that's betting big on Nvidia.

Nvidia's business designing chips for AI uses, which could upend industries from healthcare to transportation, and chips for computer data centers are the future, said Lau.

"They have a great platform and not a lot of really meaningful competition in that space," said Lau, whose firm is long Nvidia's stock.

Nvidia is already seeing significant success in those areas. In the first quarter, its data center business brought in $701 million in revenue, which was up 71% from the year-ago period. Sales of its latest Tesla chips — which the company designed for AI processing — helped boost the data center business, the company said.

Data center sales were reportedly below analysts' estimates, which may have explained the sell-off in Nvidia's stock in after-hours trading following its report. In recent trading, Nvidia's shares were down $8.53, or 3%, to $251.60.

Still, Lau was impressed with the business' performance in the period and sees it continuing to drive Nvidia's overall results."The AI stuff and the data center stuff is going to be the short-term boost" for Nvidia, Lau said.

The investor is also optimistic about the company's automotive efforts, although those have been mired in controversy of late. Nvidia has been developing chips and other technology for use in self-driving cars.

After an Uber autonomous car killed a pedestrian in Arizona, Nvidia announced that it would suspend its own autonomous vehicle tests. Uber's self-driving cars use Nvidia graphics processors, but not its autonomous vehicle system.

Nvidia's automotive business totaled $145 million in sales in the first quarter, up just 4% from the year-ago period.Benjamin Lau, chief investment officer of Apriem Advisors Apriem Adviors But it's still early days in the development of self-driving cars, Lau said.

"The auto stuff is going to be the future for them," he said. But he acknowledged that "there will be speed bumps with autonomous driving."

One area Lau isn't counting much on is cryptocurrency mining. For the first time ever, Nvidia disclosed in its earnings report its cryptocurrency-related sales, saying they hit $289 million in its first quarter.

Nvidia and rival AMD have been boosted in recent years by the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies. So-called miners have bought up their graphics processors to help solve the complex mathematical problems involved in creating new cybercoins.

But that business appears to be waning as prices of bitcoin and other cybercurrencies have slumped, the cost involved in mining them have risen, and as miners rely increasingly on application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICS, which are chips designed for particular purposes. Nvidia itself predicted sales would slump in its second quarter, something that jibes with Lau's expectations.

"It's not going to be a driver going forward," he said. "It was a nice boost while they had it."

Nvidia's stock has soared over the last two years amid burgeoning sales and earnings. But the company's sales are still relatively small compared with other big chipmakers, such as Qualcomm and Broadcom, Lau noted.

"They have a lot of room to grow in this area," he said.

SpaceX — the rocket company founded by Elon Musk — is about to launch Bangabandhu-1, which is slated to be Bangladesh's first geostationary communications satellite.

But spaceflight aficionados will mostly be gawking at a brand-new rocket carrying the payload: SpaceX's most powerful, most reusable, and possibly most affordable version of its Falcon 9 rocket to date, called Block 5 "full thrust."

The launch was scheduled for Thursday evening, but flight computers automatically triggered an abort sequence with less than a minute left on the countdown clock, preventing a launch. SpaceX said during a live webcast that it was looking for the source of the problem and will likely try again to launch the new Falcon 9 on Friday.

Falcon 9 is the rocket SpaceX launches most often; in fact, more than 50 of the workhorse rockets have lifted off in eight years. They've ferried thousands of pounds of cargo to and from the International Space Station, put dozens of commercial satellites into orbit, launched classified military payloads, and raked in billions of dollars.

Yet SpaceX engineers have constantly tinkered with the rocket over the past decade, adding new features, increasing efficiency, and boosting power. But Musk has said Falcon 9 Block 5 will be the "final version" before SpaceX moves on to bigger, badder Mars rockets.

The company hasn't publicly released any official specifications for the new rocket, and SpaceX representatives did not respond to Business Insider's request for them. Yet over the past year or so, Musk and Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president and chief operating officer, have described many of the changes.

Below is a summary of what to expect from the latest and last iteration of Falcon 9, based on our previous reporting, a list of changes compiled by Reddit's r/SpaceX community (which we first heard about from Eric Berger at Ars Technica), and other sources.

This story has been updated.

SpaceX, the rocket company founded by Elon Musk, tried to launch the first-ever high-orbit communications satellite for Bangladesh on Thursday evening.

But with less than a minute remaining on the countdown clock, flight computers automatically aborted the launch sequence.

The mission is slated to use the company's latest version of its workhorse rocket, called the Falcon 9 Block 5, for the first time.

"We're still looking for the cause of the abort," Michael Hammersley, a SpaceX materials engineer, said during a live webcast of the launch attempt.

Sensors on the launchpad and throughout the rocket can throw an abort to prevent any problems, Hammersley said, adding that "these aborts are part of the standard process to make sure everything is working correctly" and that "it's better to have them on the ground than during a flight."

Flight controllers said both the new rocket and satellite, called Bangabandhu-1, were safe. However, they couldn't resolve the problem before the roughly two-hour window for launch ran out of time — so they scrubbed Thursday's attempt.

"We'll be aiming to launch tomorrow during our backup window," Hammersley said.

The soonest that SpaceX can try to launch the mission is at 4:14 p.m. ET on Friday.

Before the launch, Musk told reporters that Falcon 9 Block 5 is designed to be "the most reliable rocket ever built." He added: "I hope fate does not punish me for these words, but that is unequivocally the intent, and I think our most conservative customers would agree that is an accurate statement. Please, fate, do not punish me for this — the intentions are good."

Why the Bangabandhu-1 mission is so important for SpaceX

Bangabandhu Satellite-1, the first high-orbit communications satellite for Bangladesh.Thales Alenia Space

Thales Alenia Space, the company that designed and built Bangabandhu-1, said in a statement that the spacecraft is a "historical first satellite" for Bangladesh.

If successfully deployed, Bangabandhu-1 will bring state-of-the-art phone, radio, TV, and internet service to the nation of more than 160 million people, as well as surrounding countries like Nepal, Myanmar, and Bhutan.

But the 23-story rocket carrying the satellite is the real star of the mission: the Falcon 9 Block 5 is the most powerful, most reusable, and most likely last version of SpaceX's workhorse orbital launcher.

"The Bangabandhu Satellite-1 mission will be the first to utilize Falcon 9 Block 5, the final substantial upgrade to SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle," SpaceX said in a press release.

SpaceX's first Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket rolling out to a launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida.Elon Musk/SpaceX via Instagram

SpaceX has launched more than 50 missions on a Falcon 9 rocket since its debut in June 2010.

Engineers have steadily improved the rocket over time, making it taller, shaving unnecessary weight, and giving the engines more power. SpaceX has also added features to enable the rocket's 16-story booster — the largest and most expensive part, as it makes up about 60% of marginal costs— to launch, land, and be reused.

That's a stark distinction from all other orbital rockets in use today, which are used once and then discarded in the ocean.

SpaceX has twice reused a Falcon 9 booster. With Falcon 9 Block 5, however, Musk hopes to expand that to 10 times with only light inspections, and perhaps 100 or more reuses if worn parts get refurbished.

"I think the F9 boosters could be used almost indefinitely, so long as there is scheduled maintenance and careful inspections," Musk said on Reddit in October 2016. "Falcon 9 Block 5 — the final version in the series — is the one that has the most performance and is designed for easy reuse."

The reason Musk calls Falcon 9 Block 5 the "final version" is that SpaceX's 6,000 employees are shifting nearly all of their engineering efforts to focus on the company's Big Falcon Rocket.

The two-stage BFR system is expected to be taller than the Statue of Liberty, deliver a 16-story spaceship into orbit, be fully reusable, and ferry 100 people and 150 tons of cargo to Mars. It will ultimately replace all other SpaceX rockets, as it will be relatively inexpensive to launch and reuse — at least in theory.

SpaceX recently got a permit to begin constructing the first BFR spaceships in the Port of Los Angeles, about a dozen miles south of the company's headquarters. Musk hopes to begin test-launching the first BFR spaceships at SpaceX's Texas facilities early next year.

How to watch the first Falcon 9 Block 5 launch live

The earliest Bangabandhu-1 may launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, is at 4:14 p.m. on Friday — a delay of 24 hours from its original target.

Current weather reports suggest the mission has an 60% chance of lifting off on Friday, and SpaceX has until 6:24 p.m. ET to launch. If there's another delay, the company may try again on Saturday.

You can watch SpaceX's live broadcast of today's attempted launch on YouTube. A new livestream should begin about 20 minutes before launch tomorrow, and will be embedded below once it's available.

Once the new Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket does launch, its booster is expected to careen back to Earth a few minutes after the launch and land on a droneship named "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Atlantic Ocean.

About 33 minutes into the launch, the upper stage of the rocket should deploy the Bangabandhu-1 satellite into orbit roughly 22,230 miles above Earth.

This story has been updated to include new details about the Falcon 9 launch. It was originally published at 11:59 a.m. EDT on May 10, 2018.

Wearing a loud, bitcoin-decorated tie, influential cryptocurrency billionaire and Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper appeared on CNBC's Closing Bell on Thursday.

But Draper's colorful cravat was almost instantly upstaged by his truculent comments about another one of his investments.

What began as a standard interview quickly turned into an argument between Closing Bell's Kelly Evans and Draper. Draper defended both his investment in the controversial healthcare company Theranos and the intentions of its founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes. Draper said that he stood by a statement he made early last year in which he claimed that Holmes, a longtime friend, was the victim of a media-instigated witchhunt.

"I feel that we've taken down another great icon," said Draper. "This woman [Holmes] came to me when she was 19 years old and said, 'I'm going to transform healthcare as we know it,' and she got bullied into submission."

When Evans interjected that Theranos's investors have lost a staggering $900 million on their initial investments, Draper asked, "Are you talking at the same time I'm talking?"

Draper went on to say that Holmes had created a company that was "an amazing opportunity." Now, said Draper, the company is deemed worthless because she was browbeat by not only leading drug companies, but the media as well.

There's one member of the media in particular who has sparked Draper's ire: John Carreyrou, a veteran Wall Street Journal reporter who investigated Theranos's technology early on and subsequently published a book on the subject, is largely responsible for what Draper deems the company's unjust demise.

While Draper didn't mention Carreyrou by name, there's little doubt that he was referring to any other journalist; Carreyrou is so widely recognized as Theranos's foe, that the company's employees created a video game to shoot him virtually.

"Wait, why is [Theranos] worthless?" Draper asked, rhetorically. "It's worthless because this writer was like a badger going after her, like a hyena going after her."

Draper went on to say that Holmes' attempt to transform the healthcare industry was met with discrimination.

Whatever the merits of Draper's claims, there's no denying the impact of Carreyrou's investigation on Theranos: The company is in reported shambles with a recent report revealing that it laid off close to 100 of its remaining employees.

Watch the full interview on CNBC here.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced on Wednesday that it will investigate Tuesday's Tesla Model S crash that killed two teenagers in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The agency said in a press release that the investigation will focus on the emergency response related to the battery fire that followed the crash, "including fire department activities and towing operations." The agency said it does not expect Tesla's semi-autonomous Autopilot technology to be a part of the investigation.

"NTSB has a long history of investigating emerging transportation technologies, such as lithium ion battery fires in commercial aviation, as well as a fire involving the lithium ion battery in a Chevrolet Volt in collaboration with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration," NTSB chairman Robert S. Sumwalt said in a press release. "The goal of these investigations is to understand the impact of these emerging transportation technologies when they are part of a transportation accident."

The NTSB didn't give a specific timeline for the investigation, but said investigations that involve fatalities tend to take 12-24 months.

The fire reportedly prevented people from helping the victims

The crash occurred on Tuesday after the vehicle hit a concrete wall at around 6:46 p.m. and caught fire, killing the driver, Barrett Riley, and front-seat passenger, Edgar Martinez, who were both 18-years-old. The backseat passenger, 18-year-old Alexander Berry, was thrown out of the vehicle after the crash and taken to a nearby hospital. Berry's condition has not been reported.

The vehicle's speed is believed to be a factor in the accident.

A local resident told CBS affiliate WFOR that the fire made it difficult for observers to help the car's occupants.

"Two people trapped in the front seats," the person, who was not identified by name, said. "Nobody could help because the car was on fire. The fire was so intense that nobody could reach them. There were people trying to get there but it wasn't happening."

A Tesla representative told Business Insider that the company is "working to establish the facts of the incident" and will cooperate with local authorities. You can read the company's full statement below.

"Our thoughts are with the families and friends affected by this tragedy. The family who owned the car has been a close friend of Tesla for many years, and this hits us particularly hard. We are working to establish the facts of the incident and offer our full cooperation to the local authorities. We have not yet been able to retrieve the logs from the vehicle, but everything we have seen thus far indicates a very high-speed collision and that Autopilot was not engaged. Serious high-speed collisions can result in a fire, regardless of the type of car. Tesla's billions of miles of actual driving data shows that a gas car in the United States is five times more likely to experience a fire than a Tesla vehicle. This doesn't change how devastating an event like this is for our customer's family and friends, and our hearts are with them."

Tesla and the NTSB argued after an accident in March

After a fatal Model X accident in March that involved the vehicle's battery catching fire, Tesla said the batteries in its vehicles are designed to decrease the rate at which a fire can spread.

"Tesla battery packs are designed so that in the rare circumstance a fire occurs, it spreads slowly so that occupants have plenty of time to get out of the car," the company wrote on its website.

In the aftermath of the March accident, Tesla helped the agency retrieve and interpret data from the vehicle's logs, but Tesla clashed with the agency over the company's decision to disclose information about the crash on its blog.

As a result, Tesla is no longer a party to the agency's investigation, though it said it would continue to assist the agency. Each side disagreed over who ended Tesla's party status. The NTSB said it revoked it, while Tesla said it voluntarily chose to remove itself from the party agreement.

It's pretty clear Mark Zuckerberg could use some fresh perspectives in running Facebook.

From fake news to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the social-networking giant has been embroiled in a seemingly endless string of controversies over the last two years. Zuckerberg's lieutenants obviously didn't help the company avoid such problems or quickly get past them. And it seems dubious that they are forward-thinking enough to help Facebook avoid similar problems in the future

Unfortunately, Zuckerberg indicated Tuesday we can expect more of the same. The company announced it's undergoing a major reorganization at the top. But the changes are little more than cosmetic. A handful of executives are changing their job titles, but no one's leaving and no one new is coming on board.

In other words, no one's being held accountable for the company's many missteps. And the same folks who advised Zuckerberg in the past will still be advising him going forward.

It's a big missed opportunity for Zuckerberg and Facebook.

The changes won't address Zuckerberg's shortcomings

All leaders need lieutenants who can cover their blind spots and who are strong enough to stand up to them and tell them when they're wrong. But that's particularly the case at Facebook.

Thanks to Facebook's stock structure, Zuckerberg controls the company. He can elect new directors, approve acquisitions, and change company policy by himself, without the votes of a single other shareholder. He dominates Facebook in a way few other CEOs could.

But Zuckerberg is also someone with limited life experiences. He's still relatively young and has spent his entire adult life running Facebook. He's consistently shown a tin ear for the concerns raised about his company, its services, or its power.

For years, none of that mattered. Facebook's sales, profit, reach, and stock price grew unabated. Despite warnings from privacy advocates, growing numbers of users signed on to the service and shared increasing amounts of information with it.

It's been a rocky road for Facebook of late

But the last two years have proved rocky for Facebook. First came reports that Russian-linked groups had hijacked Facebook to spread propaganda to influence the presidential election. The problem turned out to be much bigger than the initial reports suggested, with propaganda having been spread to influence numerous elections other than just the US one.

The company has dealt with a string of controversies since. It's been accused of helping foment violence against the Rohingya minority in Myanmar by being used to spread vicious hate speech. Its dominance along with Google of the digital advertising business has drawn scrutiny and calls for an antitrust investigation. It's come under fire from former employees for being a socially malevolent force, allegedly encouraging addiction among users.

Sen. Lindsey Graham was among the Republican legislators who were critical of Facebook during Zuckerberg's congressional appearances last month. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images And it's had to contend with news about two huge leaks of user data, one to Cambridge Analytica involving up to 87 million users and one to an assortment of hackers affecting most users of the site.

In nearly all the cases, Zuckerberg and his company were caught flat footed by the controversies. Instead of anticipating problems and avoiding them, Facebook was reduced to reacting to them, over and over.

But the problems weren't just bad public-relations. They seem to have started to affect the company. The amount of time people spend on Facebook nosedived in the fall after a series of changes the company made to its core social network — changes the company made in reaction to the series of controversies. Facebook's user growth in North America has flatlined and slowed markedly in Europe.

And regulatory changes could have even more dramatic effects. There are concerns a new privacy law in Europe will crimp Facebook's business there. During Zuckerberg's appearance before Congress last month, even some Republicans were critical of the company and hinting at the need for regulations to rein it in. Such changes could limit Facebook's future growth and, theoretically at least, potentially end in a breakup of the company.

Facebook's changes haven't and won't go far enough

Yes, Zuckerberg and Facebook have been making changes. They've revamped the News Feed. They're working on ways to identify and block hate speech. They're hiring thousands of moderators.

But the company still frequently seems tone-deaf and reactive. The latest example? Last week when it announced a new online dating service, a move that was widely mocked because it came amid broad and growing concerns about the amount of data Facebook already has on its users and its ability to keep control of that data.

Chris Cox, Facebook's chief product officer, is among several long-serving managers who will be further empowered by Facebook's reorganization. Stephen Lam/Reuters In other words, now would be a good time for Zuckerberg to get ahead of the company's various problems. He's shown he can develop Facebook as a business and a product, but he's yet to show that the understands, can cope with, or proactively address the way his service affects and interacts with society.

He could stand to have people who have thought deeply on those issues and who see Facebook from a more critical vantage point advising him and guiding him.

That could have happened with this reorganization. But it didn't. Instead, Zuckerberg's just shuffling people around. David Marcus, for example, is moving from being head of Messenger to leading a new blockchain project. Adam Mosseri, who ran News Feed, is heading to Instagram to be a new vice president of product there.

Meanwhile, instead of bringing in fresh faces, the reorganization is going to empower longtime Facebook hands. Will Cathcart, who will lead product development at Facebook's core service, has been at the company since 2008. Chris Daniels, who will head up WhatsApp in place of the recently departed Jan Koum — who left in an apparent dispute with Zuckerberg over the future of the messaging service — has been at the company since 2011. The three men who will head the new divisions created by the reorganization — Chris Cox, Mike Schroepfer, and Javier Olivan — were already top lieutenants under Zuckerberg and have all served at the company for nearly a decade or more.

Zuckerberg did bring on a new board member on Tuesday. But it's unlikely he'll have much influence on the CEO.

So don't expect things Facebook and Zuckerberg to suddenly be able to put the controversies behind it and move on. Despite all the changes, the company looks more or less the same.

Apple has urged the Federal Communication Commission to set aside large swaths of new "superhigh" spectrum for public use instead of licensing it — the latest sign that the iPhone giant is interested in playing an important role in future wireless networks, including so-called 5G wireless.

In a filing earlier this month, Apple told regulators that leaving radio signals unlicensed in the 95 GHz — 3000 GHz range will give rise to innovative "applications that are unfeasible today."

"Apple supports the Commission's proposal for experimental licensing in the bands above 95 GHz and believes that adopting this flexible model will help to spur innovation in the band," the company said in a May 2 letter, signed by Mark Neumann, a senior engineer at Apple.

"As the band is still largely greenfield, this is a rare opportunity to allow for freedom of exploration that does not exist in other bands and advantage should be taken," Apple continued.

Apple told the FCC it favored a light regulatory touch that would leave a greater share of the spectrum unlicensed, and open for anyone to use.

The comments were in response to the FCC's request seeking comments on how to regulate the high-bandwidth wireless spectrum, often referred to as "superhigh" spectrum. Apple believes that the current approach to regulation is too far in favor of established, licensed technologies, instead of emerging uses that a company like Apple might be interested in.

What is this spectrum good for?

FCC Currently, the frequencies that Apple is commenting on are unused — or "greenfield," as Apple puts it.

But that doesn't mean that there aren't many different scientists and industry researchers who are starting to come up with ideas for those frequencies.

"As Apple says in its filing no one really knows what's going to happen with that very high spectrum. But since something will someday it's time to create a mechanism to use it. Maybe not Apple's preferred unlicensed mechanism," wireless consultant Steve Crowley told Business Insider in an email. "Regulation takes time, the standardization process takes time, product development takes time. It doesn't hurt to take the first step."

The FCC took that first step earlier this year, by filing a notice inviting comment on its proposed rules, which is what Apple responded to. "Now, I realize that some are skeptical that this spectrum can be used productively," said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in a statement earlier this year. "But the skeptics have been proven wrong before."

The more spectrum that remains unlicensed, the more likely it is that Apple can experiment in those radio frequencies and build them into its technology. The spectrum used by cellular networks is licensed, for example, but Wi-Fi uses unlicensed spectrum, which enabled Apple to use it in innovative ways, such as for wireless speakers and network syncing.

The FCC also makes money by auctioning licenses to specific bands of spectrum. And if FCC makes a new slice of spectrum unlicensed, that means Apple can access it for free.

The question remains what it could be used for, but one possibility is those frequencies could be used for infrastructure to enable "5G," or the next generation of cellular networks. "I'd expect first uses of bands 95 GHz and above to be used for 5G small cell backhaul — interconnecting the millimeter wave cells connecting handsets, and fixed users, below 95 GHz," Crowley said.

Currently, bands under study include the so-called W-band (92-114 GHz) and D-band (130-175 GHz), Crowley added.

Apple's interest in millimeter wave

Apple devices currently use Intel and Qualcomm modems to connect to cellular networks. Apple The filing is only the latest sign that Apple is currently experimenting with millimeter wave technologies, which are expected to be a big part of 5G networks.

Last month, Apple pulled a job listing off of its site for a "mmWave IC design engineer," which suggested it planned to build chips to work on 5G networks. Currently, Apple buys its modems from Qualcomm and Intel.

Apple has been testing millimeter wave technology in Cupertino, California since last May on the 28 GHz and 39 GHz, bands that are lower than the ultra-high spectrum Apple commented on.

Earlier this year, Apple applied to make both of its Cupertino, California headquarters into "innovation zones" which would enable it to run tests more easily without regulatory headaches and applications. Apple didn't respond to a request for comment.

"Apple devices access spectrum in numerous licensed and unlicensed frequency bands. For example, iPhones use spectrum ranging from 13 megahertz (contactless payments via Apple Pay) to 5 gigahertz (802.11ac Wi-Fi with MIMO) and support more than 18 different LTE bands," according to the Apple application, which was also signed by Neumann, the senior Apple engineer.

Experts have said that millimeter wave is only one technology that will make up the 5G standard, which is still being finalized. The big advantage to millimeter wave is that it can achieve very high data rates, with much more bandwidth than current cellular networks.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that Apple wants to own all of its core technologies— and that likely includes the modem chips that connect Apple devices to networks like those operated by Verizon and AT&T. But even if that's not part of Apple's plans, the company clearly wants to understand these extremely high frequencies well.

Read Apple's entire filing:

Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian just gave us yet another reason to love his romance with tennis champion Serena Williams.

In an appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" Monday, Ohanian was coaxed by the talk show host into telling the story of how he met his wife, with whom he now has an 8-month-old daughter.

"How does a self-described, unequivocal nerd end up with one of the greatest athletes in recorded history?" Colbert jokingly asked Ohanian. "How does that come about? That's not a natural match."

"I would beg to differ on one hand because she's actually a total nerd," Ohanian said.

He then revealed that the two met completely by chance. Ohanian was at a conference in Rome during the same time that Williams was playing a tournament there. While Ohanian was drinking coffee at the hotel he was staying at, an Australian man — who turned out to be Williams' assistant — tried to get him to leave by telling him there was a rat by his table.

"I told him thank you, but I'm from Brooklyn; I see rats all the time. It's really not a big deal," Ohanian said.

His indifference got the attention of Williams, who turned around and asked him if he really wasn't freaked out by rats. They started talking, and she asked what he did for a living. When he told her he helped create Reddit, she responded that she had never heard of the site.

Before parting, they traded contact information, and Williams invited Ohanian to see her play at the French Open in Paris shortly after. Although she offered the invitation only half-heartedly, he accepted it without reservation, flying to Paris just to watch her. He told her he wanted to spend some time together, but he played coy, telling her he was really busy.

The pair eventually spent a day together and visited the Paris zoo. While there they happened upon a leopard's enclosure at its feeding time. The two watched as the ravenous big cat feasted on a dead bunny that had been flung at it for its meal.

"It was a show," Ohanian said. "I mean this leopard just went in, and blood is going everywhere."

Williams was visibly disturbed by the scene, so Ohanian held and comforted her. He sensed the connection right then and there.

"In that moment, thanks to that poor, poor rabbit, I found love," Ohanian said. "Despite everything else."

Watch the full clip below.

The Army released a report in late 2016 that centered on the Russian threat in Ukraine and detailed how the capabilities of Russian snipers have grown, thanks in large part deadly new Russian sniper rifle, the ORSIS T-5000.

And it also just so happens that the National Rifle Association once helped promote the T-5000, according to Mother Jones.

In 2015, the NRA sent a delegation to Moscow, where they toured the facilities at ORSIS (the Russian company that makes the sniper rifle), test-fired the T-5000 and were even included in an ORSIS promotional video, Mother Jones reported.

The delegation included NRA board member Peter Brownell, NRA donor Joe Gregory, former NRA President David Keene, and former Milwaukee County Sheriff and Trump supporter David Clarke, Mother Jones and The Daily Beast reported.

The delegation also met with Dmitry Rogozin, who had been sanctioned by the Obama administration over the invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, during the trip, which was also partially paid for by a Russian gun-rights organization called the Right to Bear Arms, Mother Jones reported.

Rozogin was Russia's deputy prime minister who oversaw the defense sector at the time, but was not retained by Russian Prime Minister-designate Dmitry Medvedev in Putin's new administration, Reuters reported on Monday.

The US Army report from 2016 described the T-5000 as "one of the most capable bolt action sniper rifles in the world."

A former Soviet Spetsnaz special forces operator, Marco Vorobiev, said the gun "can compete with any custom-built bolt action precision rifle out there," according to Popular Mechanics.

"It is well designed and built in small batches," he said. "More of a custom rifle than mass produced."

The T-5000 fires a .388 Lapua Magnum round, which is an 8.6 or 8.58x70mm round, that can hit targets up to 2,000 yards away, Popular Mechanics reported.

A .388 Lupua Magnum round is more than two times more powerful than a 7.62x54R round, The National Interest reported in December, adding that there's no known body armor in the field that can stop the round.

The T-5000 has reportedly been used by Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine, Iraqi special forces operators, and has been spotted being used by Chinese troops and Vietnamese law enforcement officers, Popular Mechanics and thefirearmblog.com reported.

A Russian-backed separatist in Ukraine with the T-5000. Russian media via thefirearmblog.com

The Russian military is also beginning to field the T-5000, and it has even been tested with Russia's "Ratnik" program, which is a futuristic combat system that includes modernized body armor, a helmet with night vision and thermal imaging, and more, The National Interest and Popular Mechanics reported.

The rifle, however, has had problems opening the bolt, The National Interest reported.

Still, the T-5000's range has helped Russian forces in Ukraine "fix Ukrainian tactical formations by employing sniper teams en masse," the 2016 Army report said.

The sniper teams "layer their assets in roughly three ranks with spacing determined by range of weapons systems and the terrain" with the "final rank [consisting] of highly trained snipers" with the best equipment, the report said.

They then "channelize movement of tactical formations and then direct artillery fire on prioritized targets."

"Several sniper teams will work together to corral an enemy formation into a target area making delivery of indirect fire easy and devastating," the report said. "Russian snipers also channelize units into ambushes and obstacles such minefields or armored checkpoints."

The "capabilities of a sniper in a Russian contingent is far more advanced than the precision shooters U.S. formations have encountered over the last 15 years," the report said.

On Tuesday, Facebook Messenger head David Marcus announced that he's leaving his current role to explore the use of blockchain technology within the company.

"I'm setting up a small group to explore how to best leverage Blockchain across Facebook, starting from scratch," Marcus wrote in a post published to his Facebook page.

Marcus' announcement comes months after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he was investigating how cryptocurrencies could be used at Facebook. Blockchain is the underpinning technology behind bitcoin and all of the very many other cryptocurrencies.

Marcus joined Facebook four years ago from PayPal, where he had been serving as President. Marcus himself is a big fan of cryptocurrency, and actually sits on the board of $1.6 billion cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.

The news also comes as part of a broader shakeup at Facebook, as the company reforms itself into three new segments. Messenger will now fall into the new "Facebook family of apps" business, alongside Instagram, WhatsApp, and the core Facebook itself. Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox will lead that business, taking over for Marcus.

Blockchain is the term for a decentralized digital ledger, and was originally created as the underpinning technology for bitcoin in 2009. It's the technology that enables all cryptocurrencies to function as they do — it doesn't require a central authority, like a bank, to establish that the data in the blockchain is accurate.

Marcus didn't reveal the type of applications for blockchain that he'll be working on At Facebook. However, given the current applications of blockchain technology, there are plenty of directions that Marcus and his team could go. At Facebook, the technology could be used in payments, gaming, the creation of digital art, and the swapping of collectible items — all applications for the blockchain that are currently being explored by the tech industry.

The founder of Cambridge Analytica's parent company, SCL Group, says the controversial data analytics firm will not be revived under a new name.

Since the firm, and its UK counterpart SCL Elections, announced it would be shutting down and declaring bankruptcy last week, several privacy advocates have feared the company would rebrand under a mysterious company called Emerdata, which was created in August 2017 and has several top SCL executives sitting on its board, including Rebekah and Jennifer Mercer, the daughters of billionaire conservative donor Robert Mercer.

In an interview with Bloomberg, on Tuesday, Nigel Oakes, who founded SCL Group, said Emerdata was "in administration," meaning that it is being managed by a court appointed administrator under UK insolvency, or bankruptcy, proceedings.

"It's the end of the show," he told Bloomberg. "The whole lot is gone. There's no secret. For anything like this to recreate itself you need a team of people to work together but nobody is working together. Everybody has gone off to do their own things."

Oakes said the original idea when Emerdata was founded last year was to acquire Cambridge Analytica and SCL Elections to put them under one roof. He added that Firecrest Technologies, another company created in March by former Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix, would also be shut down. Firecrest's main shareholder was Emerdata, according to Bloomberg.

Oakes did not give any indication about what would happen to Cambridge Analytica's voter profile data, but it's possible it could be sold to the highest bidder, at least in the U.S. Despite insolvency proceedings, the firm will still have to contend with a ruling from Britain's privacy watchdog ordering it to hand over the data it has on a U.S. resident in addition to investigations into the firm's practices.

He also did not say if SCL Group, the parent company of Cambridge Analytica and SCL Elections, would also be winding down.

Cambridge Analytica is at the center of a global debate about data privacy for allegedly breaking Facebook's rules to obtain the personal data of up to 87 million of the social network's users. The company reportedly used the data to create psychological profiles of Facebook users to target them with ads on behalf of the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election and on behalf of those advocating that Great Britain should leave the European union ahead of the Brexit vote that same year.

Markets Insider

Shares of Disney are climbing, up more than 2% in after-hours-trading Tuesday, following the entertainment giant's second-quarter earnings release that topped Wall Street expectations.

Here are the key figures:

"Driven by strong results in our parks and resorts and studio businesses, our Q2 performance reflects our continued ability to drive significant shareholder value," CEO Bob Iger said in a press release. "Our ability to create extraordinary content like Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War and leverage it across all business units, the unique value proposition we’re creating for consumers with our DTC platforms, and our recent reorganization strengthen our confidence that we are very well positioned for future growth."

ESPN revenue fell for yet another quarter as the cable sports network struggles to find its footing in the digital world. Disney's acquisition of BAMTech from Major League Baseball's advanced media division added to the losses for the company's cable networks.

"The decrease at ESPN was driven by higher programming costs, partially offset by affiliate revenue growth and higher advertising revenue," Disney said. "The programming cost increase was due to a shift in timing of College Football Playoff (CFP) bowl games and contractual rate increases for college sports and NBA programming."  

Studio revenue, on the other hand, was up 21% thanks to the success of "Black Panther." Home entertainment also grew thanks to sales of sales of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," "Moana," and "Thor: Ragnarok," the company said. 

Freeform, formerly known as ABC Family, saw decreased revenue due to a decline in viewership. 

Shares of Disney have declined 9% this year.

In the furor over fake news and the dominance of the tech giants over the digital advertising industry, Google has seen far less scrutiny than Facebook.

The search giant on Tuesday announced steps that seem designed to make sure things stay that way.

Google is revamping its Google News service to make it easier for users to find stories from credible news sources and to subscribe to those publications. Using artificial intelligence, the updated service will automatically highlight stories it thinks users will be interested in, but it will also make it easier for them to get in-depth information on particular topics.

"We are using AI to bring forward the best of what journalism has to offer," Google CEO Sundar Pichai while unveiling the revised service at the company's annual developer conference in Mountain View, California. "We want to give users quality sources that they trust."

The new service, which Google plans to start rolling out Tuesday in 127 countries, will offer a customized news feed for each user based on what the company knows about their interests and where they live. At the top of the feed will be the five most relevant articles for each user.

"It works right out of the box," said Trystan Upstill, Google's head of News product and engineering. The system is designed to become better attuned to your interests over time, he said, adding, "The more you use it, the better it gets."

The service will also offer users an overview of the top headlines from around the world — not just those of personal interest to particular people. And the service will group together articles on specific topics.

Google News is touting "full coverage" of topics and easier ways to subscribe

Google's updated Google News app Google/Business Insider Users who want more information on those topics will be able to tap or click on a "full coverage" button. Once there, they will see top recent headlines on those topics, timelines of events, and lists of frequently asked questions concerning the topics. Again, Google is relying on AI to collect stories and other information for these topics — and the system works in real time as events happen and new stories are published, Upstill said.

"This is by far the most powerful feature of the app and provides a whole new way to dig into the news," he said.

As part of the updates, Google is also rolling out a new feature that will allow users to easily subscribe to publications. Instead of having to fill out their personal information or type in their credit cards, users can sign into and pay for subscriptions via their Google accounts. And they'll be able to use their Google accounts across multiple publications, rather than having to create separate credentials for each service they subscribe to.

"This is one of the many steps we're taking to make it easier to access dependable, high quality information when and where it matters most," Upstill said.

The company plans to start offering the Subscribe with Google feature "in coming weeks," he said.

Google and Facebook have drawn criticism for undermining publishers

The updates to Google News come amid a growing debate about the role of the tech giants, particularly Google and Facebook, in the news business. Both companies came under fire for allowing their services to be hijacked to spread propaganda by Russian-linked groups during the 2016 election.

Additionally, with Facebook and Google accounting for the vast majority of digital advertising revenue and a growing portion of all ad revenue, they've been accused of undermining news publications and other advertising-dependent businesses. Some competitors and public policy makers have started to call for regulators to intervene.

The announcements follow moves by Facebook to revamp how it handles news. The social networking company has been de-emphasising posts from organizations including news publications and is attempting to promote only those stories that come from sources that are broadly recognized as credible.