• Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team found communications about hacked Democratic Party emails between Trump advisor Roger Stone and WikiLeaks, according to Friday court filings. 
• The evidence was gathered during a separate probe of Russian intelligence officers, who were charged with hacking this summer. 
• In a statement to Reuters, Stone said the evidence was “innocuous Twitter direct messages” that were previously disclosed to the House Intelligence Committee and “prove absolutely nothing." 
• Mueller, however, did not say at the time that he had evidence of communications with WikiLeaks.

Longtime Trump advisor Roger Stone communicated with WikiLeaks about hacked Democratic Party emails during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to a Friday court filing from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team. 

Mueller's office gathered that evidence in a separate probe of Russian intelligence officers who were charged with hacking emails during the campaign and releasing them. Stone was allegedly communicating with a Russian hacker called Guccifer 2.0 and with WikiLeaks, according to Friday's filing. 

See more:Roger Stone pleads not guilty to 7 counts of obstruction, false statements, and witness tampering

In an email to Reuters, Stone said the evidence was “innocuous Twitter direct messages” that were previously disclosed to the House Intelligence Committee and “prove absolutely nothing." Last month, Stone was indicted for lying to Congress about his communications with others about the hacked emails.

At the time, Mueller did not disclose he had evidence of communications with WikiLeaks, though it is unclear if the evidence cited in Friday's court filing is more substantial than what was previously known. 

Stone has admitted to communicating with both WikiLeaks and the Russian hacker group, but has said that he did not know in advance about the hacked emails' release. Stone reportedly advocated for a preemptive presidential pardon for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has not been charged with any federal crimes. 

In November 2017, Stone told Business Insider that while he had exchanged private messages with Guccifer 2.0 in 2016, calling the hacker "the real deal" at the time, he had "revised" his assessment of the self-described hacker "some time ago."

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NOW WATCH: Roger Stone explains what Trump has in common with Richard Nixon

• Voice assistants like Amazon's Alexa, Google's Assistant, Apple's Siri, and Microsoft's Cortana, are pegged to trigger a widespread transformation across the retail industry in the years to come.
• The current interest in, and adoption of, voice assistants for commerce is being driven by recent technological breakthroughs, advantages of the tech over existing channels, and the development of voice apps.
• As consumer demand for voice technology mounts, brands offering this functionality throughout the entire customer journey stand to gain in three key ways.

Not too long ago, if your friend had a smart speaker like Amazon’s Alexa or Google's Assistant in their living room, it seemed like a rare novelty. Within a matter of months, however, smart speakers have started becominghousehold staples — and they’re still only at a fraction of their growth potential.

One of the biggest drivers of adoption has been increased functionality. Smart speakers aren’t just changing the music and turning on the lights; they’re helping consumers find new products and make purchases — and they’re quickly becoming a preferred method of shopping.

In fact, nearly a quarter of consumers globally already prefer using a voice assistant over going to a company website or mobile app to shop. This share will jump to 40% by 2021, according to Capgemini.

Consumers are on board with the prompt, convenient nature of shopping with smart speakers — and brands who join them stand to reap massive rewards. The Voice in Retail Report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, highlights the value voice brings to the shopping funnel and how retailers can implement it throughout the customer journey.

Here are three ways brands can capture consumers with voice technology:

• Driving product purchases: Voice assistants make spending faster and easier when consumers are unable to use their hands. The ability to make a purchase on any channel and the addition of personalized, intelligent elements to the shopping experience are simplifying the transition from product discovery to product purchase.
• Heightening customer loyalty: Brands can leverage voice assistants in the post-purchase phase to track delivery status, automate part of the return process, interact with customer service, offer feedback, and collect consumer behavioral and transactional data.
• Shifting consumers’ spending behaviors: Smart device ownership has a snowball effect, so as the smart device ecosystem reaches the mainstream, consumers will flock to connected cars, smart home devices and appliances, and connected virtual reality and augmented reality (VR/AR) headsets.

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Shoppers are interested in using voice assistants for every stage of the customer journey, from initial product search and discovery to post-purchase customer service and delivery status. And retailers that take advantage of consumers’ desire to leverage voice will be in a stronger position to heighten customer engagement, increase conversion times, drive sales, and boost operational efficiency.

The Voice in Retail Report from Business Insider Intelligence examines the trends driving the adoption of voice commerce, details the role of voice throughout the customer shopping journey, outlines how brands can benefit from implementing voice in their strategies, and explores what's ahead for the technology in retail.

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• The Texas secretary of state has apologized for misleading reports that said tens of thousands of people in the state had voted illegally.
• David Whitley's apology comes nearly a month after his office released a report that suggested 58,000 non-US citizens may have voted illegally in past Texas elections.
• Republican lawmakers, including President Donald Trump, seized on the figures, claiming they proved rampant voter fraud.

David Whitley, the Texas secretary of state, apologized for a misleading claim that tens of thousands of non-citizens were registered to vote.

Last month the secretary of state's office said it was investigating the legal status of 95,000 registered voters who had provided work visas or green cards as documents when they obtained a driver's license or ID, which may suggest they were not citizens.

Of these, according to the Texas Tribune, the secretary of state's office said about 58,000 individuals cast a ballot in one or more elections since 1996. Officials said the names identified are "WEAK" matches that counties may choose to investigate or not.

Those figures have proven to be invalid, as outlets including the Texas Tribune found that tens of thousands of those counted were US citizens.

President Donald Trump seized on the news, using the numbers released as evidence of massive voter fraud.

"58,000 non-citizens voted in Texas, with 95,000 non-citizens registered to vote," Trump wrote. "These numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. All over the country, especially in California, voter fraud is rampant. Must be stopped. Strong voter ID!"

Read more: Trump tweeted misleading voter fraud statistics, claiming non-citizens voted in Texas

Trump's tweet seemed to be referencing a Fox News segment on the investigation, which also decried voter fraud.

Witley apologized to state lawmakers in a letter sent last week that comes amid his paused confirmation hearings.

"I have discovered that additional refining of the data my office provides to county voter registrars, both in substance and in timing, is necessary to ensure a more accurate and efficient list maintenance process," Whitley wrote on Wednesday.

In an earlier appearance in confirmation hearings, Whitley blamed unclear wording in a press release on the investigation.

"I recognize this caused some confusion about our intentions, which were at all times aimed at maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the voter rolls," he continued. "To the extent my actions missed that mark, I apologize."

SEE ALSO: Trump quietly created a new national park when he signed a spending bill that partially funded a border wall

DON'T MISS: Democrats are working to explose Trump's private conversations with Putin

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NOW WATCH: Roger Stone explains what Trump has in common with Richard Nixon

• Stephen Curry and Seth Curry are wagering future family tickets to their games in the NBA three-point contest at the All-Star Weekend.
• Depending on where Seth plays after this season, that could mean buying multiple family members tickets as many as four times per year.
• Stephen said his family is rooting for Seth.
• Follow all of Business Insider's 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend coverage here >

Stephen Curry and his brother, Seth, have some serious money on the line in their three-point contest at the NBA's All-Star Weekend.

With the brothers back in their hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, representing the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers, respectively, they've decided to put future family tickets on the line.

"Whoever wins between me and Steph gotta buy the family tickets for the rest of our careers whenever we play each other," Seth said on Saturday.

The Blazers and Warriors don't play each other again for the rest of the regular season, and Seth is a free agent this offseason. If he stays in the Western Conference, the loser could be buying tickets for family three or four times a year.

If Seth goes to the Eastern Conference, that number would drop to two times a year, but that might not be a good thing. Prior to All-Star Weekend, Stephen said his ticket requests were nearing triple-digits as the Curry brothers returned home.

"The stakes are pretty high considering how many people show up for our games," Stephen said on Saturday.

Seth is a career 44% shooter from three, but he trails Stephen in dominance from deep — Stephen owns the record for most three-pointers in a season and is on pace to shatter the all-time record.

The bet might also be an easier one for Stephen, who signed a five-year, $200 million contract in 2017. Seth is playing on the final year of a one-year, $2.7 million contract.

Considering his underdog status, Seth has his family's support over Stephen.

"I know for a fact that everybody in my family, except for me, is rooting for Seth," Stephen said. "I've already accepted that. I hope to pull the upset tonight."

The three-point contest features a stacked lineup that also includes Devin Booker, Danny Green, Joe Harris, Kemba Walker, Buddy Hield, Damian Lillard, Dirk Nowitzki, and Khris Middleton.

"It's a big bet. It's gonna be a lot of fun," Seth said, adding, "I gotta beat all nine [players] to win, but to win that bet, I only gotta beat Steph."

• Read more:
• The NBA’s best players struggled to remember what they were doing the first time LeBron James played in the All-Star Game
• Shaquille O'Neal explained why his father's advice about staying 'broke' changed his life
• JORDAN VS. DOMINIQUE: Here's every dunk from the Most famous battle in NBA Slam Dunk Contest history
• Photos of what this year's NBA All-Stars looked like when their careers started

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen have a combined net worth of $580 million. Here's how the power couple makes and spends their money.

This is a preview of a research report from BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about BI Intelligence, click here.

Major logistics providers have long relied on analytics and research teams to make sense of the data they generate from their operations.

But with volumes of data growing, and the insights that can be gleaned becoming increasingly varied and granular, these companies are starting to turn to artificial intelligence (AI) computing techniques, like machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing, to streamline and automate various processes. These techniques teach computers to parse data in a contextual manner to provide requested information, supply analysis, or trigger an event based on their findings. They are also uniquely well suited to rapidly analyzing huge data sets, and have a wide array of applications in different aspects of supply chain and logistics operations.

AI’s ability to streamline so many supply chain and logistics functions is already delivering a competitive advantage for early adopters by cutting shipping times and costs. A cross-industry study on AI adoption conducted in early 2017 by McKinsey found that early adopters with a proactive AI strategy in the transportation and logistics sector enjoyed profit margins greater than 5%. Meanwhile, respondents in the sector that had not adopted AI were in the red.

However, these crucial benefits have yet to drive widespread adoption. Only 21% of the transportation and logistics firms in McKinsey’s survey had moved beyond the initial testing phase to deploy AI solutions at scale or in a core part of their business. The challenges to AI adoption in the field of supply chain and logistics are numerous and require major capital investments and organizational changes to overcome.

In a new report, BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, explores the vast impact that AI techniques like machine learning will have on the supply chain and logistics space. We detail the myriad applications for these computational techniques in the industry, and the adoption of those different applications. We also share some examples of companies that have demonstrated success with AI in their supply chain and logistics operations. Lastly, we break down the many factors that are holding organizations back from implementing AI projects and gaining the full benefits of this disruptive technology.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• The current interest in and early adoption of AI systems is being driven by several key factors, including increased demands from shippers, recent technological breakthroughs, and significant investments in data visibility by the industry’s largest players.
• AI can deliver enormous benefits to supply chain and logistics operations, including cost reductions through reduced redundancies and risk mitigation, improved forecasting, faster deliveries through more optimized routes, improved customer service, and more.
• Legacy players face many substantial obstacles to deploying and reaping the benefits of AI systems, though, including data accessibility and workforce challenges.
• AI adoption in the logistics industry is strongly skewed toward the biggest players, because overcoming these major challenges requires costly investments in updating IT systems and breaking down data silos, as well as hiring expensive teams of data scientists.
• Although AI implementations are unlikely to result in large-scale workforce reductions in the near term, companies still need to develop strategies to address how workers' roles will change as AI systems automate specific functions.

 In full, the report:

• Details the factors driving adoption of AI systems in the supply chain and logistics field.
• Examines the benefits that AI can deliver in reducing costs and shipping times for supply chain and logistics operations.
• Explains the many challenges companies face in implementing AI in their supply chain and logistics operations to reap the benefits of this transformational technology.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

1. Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >>Learn More Now
2. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> Purchase & Download Now

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• Donald Trump took to Twitter on Saturday to share a video meme created by an Infowars-contest winner.
• The video, which was created by Twitter user @CarpeDonktum, essentially mocks the reactions of Democrats who attended the 2019 State of the Union Address while "Proud to Be an American" plays in the background.
• The clip originally featured an REM song called "Everybody Hurts," and was shared by the President on Friday, February 15. 
• According to CNBC, the band's publisher asked Twitter to remove the original video, and REM bassist Mike Mills said on Twitter that "measures have been taken to stop it."
• Trump has shared other controversial clips in the past, including anti-Muslim hate videos, and has been widely criticized for doing so.

President Donald Trump isn't letting copyright violations stop him from sharing memes on Twitter.

On Saturday, February 16, Trump took to the social-media platform to share a video meme created by Twitter user @CarpeDonktum. The video mocked the reactions of Democrats who attended the 2019 State of the Union Address while "Proud to Be an American" played in the background.

Trump shared the video after an earlier version of the video was removed from Twitter yesterday.

The original video featured a 1992 song called "Everybody Hurts" by REM

According to CNBC, the band's publisher and a lawyer from Universal Music Group asked Twitter to remove the video that featured the REM song. 

REM bassist Mike Mills also spoke out against the use of the song in the meme. On Twitter, the musician said that "measures have been taken to stop it."

By Saturday morning, Twitter users were reportedly unable to play the video. Instead, the clip displayed an error message that said "This video has been removed in response to a report from the copyright holder."

Twitter user @CarpeDonktum questioned why Twitter removed the video

In his tweet, the meme creator said that "copyrighted material gets used all the time on the internet." 

Prior to creating this meme, @CarpeDonktum achieved online recognition for winning  Alex Jones' NPC Meme contest in November 2018. According to a report from The Verge, the video implies that liberals "are unable to partake in regular conversations and rely on robotic rhetoric to function properly."

This isn't the first time Trump has shared controversial videos on Twitter

In November 2017, Trump retweeted a string of anti-Muslim videos that were originally posted by Jayda Fransen, a conservative activist and deputy leader of the far-right political party Britain First.

Read more: Trump retweeted a string of anti-Muslim videos published by a leader of the British far-right

During an interview with Piers Morgan, Trump apologized for sharing the videos.

"If you are telling me they're horrible people, horrible, racist people, I would certainly apologize if you'd like me to do that," Trump told Morgan.

• Read more:
• Trump quietly created a new national park when he signed a spending bill that partially funded a border wall
• Trump's national emergency for border wall will 'quickly' face legal challenges and sets a dangerous precedent, experts say
• Trump's 2014 comments criticizing Obama for taking executive action 'because he is unable to negotiate w/ Congress' are coming back to haunt him
• Democrats respond to Trump's national emergency declaration by calling for executive action to address gun violence and climate change

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Meet the three women who married Donald Trump

• Five people were killed and several injured in a shooting Friday in Aurora, Illinois.
• Authorities said the gunman opened fire on his colleagues during a meeting in which he was fired.
• Local organizations have planned multiple vigils, and a GoFundMe for victims' families had made around $10,000 in five hours. 

A GoFundMe campaign has been created to aid victims and their families in the wake of a shooting that killed five people on Friday in Aurora, Illinois.

The #AuroraStrong Community Fund set a $50,000 goal for money that, according to its online page, will be collected by the city and distributed to the families in need.

Five hours after its creation, the fund had garnered more than $12,000 in donations and had over 2,500 shares on Facebook. 

The crowdfunding effort comes the day after the shooting, which also injured several civilians and police officers, all of whom authorities said Saturday would recover.

Multiple vigils were being planned as of Saturday, including the Aurora Strong vigil, which will reportedly be followed by a tribute to Aurora Police officers by the Police Department.

Read more: Gunman in Aurora shooting that killed 5 'went ballistic' using pistol with green laser sight, witness says

Police said Gary Martin, the suspected shooter in the incident, opened fire with a Smith & Wesson pistol in a meeting where he was going to be fired. He allegedly opened fire, then turned to the plant floor, where employees were working. 

See the page and donate here »

Read more:

5 GoFundMe campaigns that weren't what they claimed to be

Over 1,500 federal workers affected by the government shutdown are asking for donations on GoFundMe to help pay their bills

From Time's Up to the Tree of Life Synagogue victims, these are the 10 GoFundMe campaigns that raised the most money in 2018

Join the conversation about this story »

This is a preview of the Internet of Things (2018) research report from Business Insider Intelligence. To learn more about the IoT ecosystem, tech trends and industry forecasts, click here.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming how companies and consumers go about their days around the world. The technology that underlies this whole segment is evolving quickly, whether it’s the rapid rise of the Amazon Echo and voice assistants upending the consumer space, or growth of AI-powered analytics platforms for the enterprise market.

And Business Insider Intelligence is keeping its finger on the pulse of this ongoing revolution by conducting our second annual Global IoT Executive Survey, which provides us with critical insights on new developments within the IoT and explains how top-level perspectives are changing year-to-year. Our survey includes more than 400 responses from key executives around the world, including C-suite and director-level respondents.

Through this exclusive study and in-depth research into the field, Business Insider Intelligence details the components that make up the IoT ecosystem. We size the IoT market and use exclusive data to identify key trends in device installations and investment. And we profile the enterprise and consumer IoT segments individually, drilling down into the drivers and characteristics that are shaping each market.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• We project that there will be more than 55 billion IoT devices by 2025, up from about 9 billion in 2017.
• We forecast that there will be nearly $15 trillion in aggregate IoT investment between 2017 and 2025, with survey data showing that companies' plans to invest in IoT solutions are accelerating.
• The report highlights the opinions and experiences of IoT decision-makers on topics that include: drivers for adoption; major challenges and pain points; deployment and maturity of IoT implementations; investment in and utilization of devices; the decision-making process; and forward- looking plans.

In full, the report:

• Provides a primer on the basics of the IoT ecosystem.
• Offers forecasts for the IoT moving forward, and highlights areas of interest in the coming years.
• Looks at who is and is not adopting the IoT, and why.
• Highlights drivers and challenges facing companies that are implementing IoT solutions.

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• Altitude Investment Management is raising over $100 million for its second cannabis-focused fund, according to people familiar with the matter.
• The fund is a sizeable increase over its first $30 million fund which closed last year.
• Altitude joins a long list of cannabis venture funds that are raising millions to go after growth-stage startups.

Venture capital funds focused on startups in the rapidly growing cannabis industry are raising boatloads of capital, and Altitude Investment Management is no exception.

The New York City-based firm is looking to raise over $100 million for its second cannabis fund, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Altitude's second fund is set to be a substantial increase over its first. The firm's first fund closed at $30 million last year and is deployed across 16 companies in the cannabis sector, including BDS Analytics, a data firm, and Front Range Biosciences, a biotech startup. 

Read more: The top 12 venture-capital firms making deals in the booming cannabis industry that's set to skyrocket to $75 billion

The fund's partners include John Brecker and Michael Goldberg, who both worked at the $2.7 billion Longacre Fund Management, Roderick Stephen, who founded Longacre's UK group and worked at Citadel Investment Group, and Jon Trauben, a commercial real estate veteran who did stints at Barclays and Credit Suisse.  

'They're not being dreamed up in garages anymore'

Trauben told Business Insider in an interview that Altitude's much larger Fund II represents a shift in how the cannabis industry is maturing, with incumbent companies "boxing out" new startups that rise to challenge them — and needing capital to fuel that growth. 

"The set of companies that will win the industry already exist," said Trauben. "They're not being dreamed up in garages anymore."

While Altitude won't rule out investing in public companies, the focus will be on growth-stage startups. The prevailing question, then, for Altitude's second fund will be picking out which companies will "pull ahead."

"We're in the second half of the startup ecosystem," said Trauben. "There's still room for new ideas and new companies, but it's not like it was two or three years ago."

In terms of what parts of the industry Altitude is looking at most closely, Trauben said the firm takes a "pretty broad view" of cannabis, but he's particularly bullish on consumer brands, and the exit opportunities those brands present canny investors. 

He pointed to Green Thumb Industries recent acquisition of Beboe, an upscale marijuana brand. "I think 2019 would really be the year of the brands for cannabis space," said Trauben.

Read more: Biotech, CBD drinks, and a hot vape company: Here's where all the top marijuana VCs are looking to write checks this year

Another area of interest: agricultural technology. Trauben said there's a number of startups working on developing cannabinoids — the active compounds in the cannabis plant — through cellular hosts like yeast and algae. 

As big consumer packaged goods corporations race to formulate beverages and other products containing CBD and THC, two of the most popular cannabis ingredients, this technology could potentially become "very disruptive," said Trauben.

'The true commodity in this industry right now is information'

Unlike some other cannabis funds, Trauben says Altitude won't shy away from investing directly in "plant-touching" companies, though marijuana is federally illegal in the US.

That's part of what most cannabis-specific funds say gives them an edge over more traditional venture capital and private equity firms, like Lerer Hippeau and Greycroft, who are slowly getting more comfortable investing in the space. 

In Trauben's view, funds like Altitude that are used to dealing with the complexities of operating in an industry that's growing so rapidly while being federally illegal represent the best chances of "getting it right."

"The true commodity in this industry right now is information," said Trauben. "If you're not seeing that information flow — the networks and the relationships you've built — you just don't have the right data."

Investors in other, more mature sectors, like tech or real estate, have decades of data and historical precedent at their fingertips when evaluating deals.

"I think when you move from that environment to this environment, you realize what's missing and to build that knowledge flow doesn't happen overnight," said Trauben. "It takes a concerted effort."

Altitude joins a number of other cannabis-specific firms who are raising new funds this year, including Tuatara Capital, Poseidon Asset Management, and 7thirty, among others. 

• Read more:
• A marijuana industry veteran is raising a $30 million venture fund to go after biotech investments, and he's hiring
• A New York private equity firm founded by JPMorgan and Guggenheim veterans is raising the largest-ever fund dedicated to the booming marijuana industry
• A marijuana industry veteran is raising a $30 million venture fund to go after biotech investments, and he's hiring
• A $200 million marijuana VC breaks down how he picks what companies to invest in

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A Microsoft EVP explains how every company is becoming digital — from farming to staffing

The healthcare industry is facing disruption due to accelerating technological innovation and growing demand for improved delivery of healthcare and lower costs. Tech startups are leading the way by seizing opportunities in the areas of the industry that are most vulnerable to disruption, including genomics, pharmaceuticals, administration, clinical operations, and insurance.

Venture funds and businesses are taking notice of these startups' potential. In the US, digital health funding reached $1.6 billion in Q1 2018, according to Rock Health — the largest first quarter on record, surpassing the $1.4 billion in venture funding seen in Q1 2016. These high-potential startups provide a glimpse into the future of the healthcare space and demonstrate how we’ll get there.

In this report, a compilation of various notes, Business Insider Intelligence will look at the top startups disrupting US healthcare in four key areas: artificial intelligence (AI), digital therapeutics, health insurance, and genomics. Startups in this report were selected based on the funding they've received over the past year, notable investors, the products they offer, and leadership in their functional area.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• Tech startups are entering the market by applying the “Silicon Valley” approach. They're targeting shortcomings and legacy systems that are no longer efficient.
• AI is being applied across five areas of healthcare to improve clinical operation workflows, cut costs, and foster preventative medicine. These areas include administration, big data analysis, clinical decision support, remote patient monitoring, and care provision.
  
• Health tech startups, insurers, and drug makers are rapidly exploring new ways to apply digital therapeutics to the broader healthcare market that replace or complement the existing treatment of a disease.
• Health insurance startups are taking advantage of the consumerization of healthcare to threaten the status quo of legacy players. 
• Genomics is becoming an increasingly common tool within the healthcare system as health organizations better understand how to extract the value from patients’ genetic data. 

 In full, the report:

• Details the areas of the US health industry that show the greatest potential for disruption.
• Forecasts the industry adoption of bleeding edge technology and how it will transform how healthcare organizations operate.
• Unveils the top five startups in AI, digital therapeutics, health insurance, and genomics, and how they're positioned to solve big issues that key players in healthcare face. 
• Explores what's next for the leading startups, providing a glimpse into the future of the healthcare space and demonstrating how we’ll get there.

Subscribe to an All-Access pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to:

	This report and more than 250 other expertly researched reports
	Access to all future reports and daily newsletters
	Forecasts of new and emerging technologies in your industry
	And more!

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• Anthony Davis did not get traded before the trade deadline, but his trade request has remained a major storyline in the NBA.
• At the All-Star Weekend, several players, including Davis himself in a candid media session, have been asked about the trade request and the resulting fallout.
• The situation has been ugly for the Pelicans, as they have been playing Davis, perhaps against their wishes, and fired their GM on Friday in a move that was reportedly aimed to take back control in the trade negotiations.
• The NBA is not happy with the way the situation has played out, and with Davis now unable to be traded for several months, the story is not going away.

The trade deadline came and went, and Anthony Davis is still on the New Orleans Pelicans.

But that hasn't stopped his trade request from remaining one of, if not the biggest talking point around the league during the NBA's All-Star Weekend.

After the Pelicans declined to deal Davis before the February 7 deadline — with the Los Angeles Lakers most notably bidding on the 25-year-old star — the saga seemed as if it would die down, with a trade unable to happen until the offseason. Instead, the fallout of the deal has been as noteworthy.

Read more:The aftermath of the Anthony Davis trade saga has turned ugly for the Lakers and the Pelicans

There was controversy over how the Pelicans would handle the situation, with the NBA calling them to inform them it would violate the rules to sit a healthy Davis. The Pelicans are incentivized to not play Davis, both to protect his health and trade value and to improve their standing in the draft lottery by losing games. They agreed to play him but on limited minutes and not in back-to-back games.

On the court, things didn't look any better. Davis appeared to be going half-speed and drew attention when he scored just 3 points in a 40-point loss to the Orlando Magic.

On Thursday, Davis left a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder with a shoulder injury. He then left the arena to get an MRI and did not return. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, ownership was "livid" with Davis for leaving, and there was reportedly miscommunication between the coaching staff and front office over the situation.

It didn't help optics that Davis was still scheduled to play in Sunday's All-Star Game.

On Friday, the Pelicans fired GM Dell Demps, the news over-shadowing the first day of All-Star Weekend.

Read more: The Pelicans' GM is suddenly out and it could be a good sign that the Lakers are still alive in the Anthony Davis sweepstakes

At media day on Saturday, many players were asked about Davis' trade request. Several players supported Davis, saying players should have the right to ask for a change of scenery, particularly when teams have the power to trade them.

Davis himself, of course, drew one of the biggest media scrums on Saturday and fielded questions about his request.

Davis was remarkably candid during the process, saying teams like the Lakers, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, and Milwaukee Bucks were all on his list of destinations he'd like to be traded. He said he wanted to win, and market size does not matter. He even said he would leave a touching tribute on Instagram to New Orleans when he's dealt.

Davis can't be traded until the offseason, however, and there is a belief that the order of the draft may need to be finalized before a deal is done, so the Pelicans know the value of any first-round picks. 

The Celtics, believed to be able to offer the best package for Davis, cannot make a trade until July when Kyrie Irving becomes a free agent. The Celtics could not trade for Davis while Davis and Irving were on "designated" contracts; Irving becomes a free agent on July 1.

One league source told Business Insider that the Davis trade saga remains a big talking point in league circles. The same source said there is a belief that there won't be major transactions until the matter is settled.

In the meantime, the league office is unhappy with the way the situation has unfolded. Indeed, a player asking to be traded with a year and a half left on his contract, in what some people considered to be a power play by his agency, the resulting back-and-forth between the Pelicans and Lakers, and the loss of an executive's job is not the type of story the league wants to dominate headlines.

With 23 games still left on the Pelicans' schedule and months ahead until a deal could go through, the situation, and the story is not going away, at least for long.

• Read more:
• The NBA’s best players struggled to remember what they were doing the first time LeBron James played in the All-Star Game
• Stephen Curry and Seth Curry have an epic bet on the line when they go head-to-head in the NBA's 3-point shooting contest
• The NBA's 3 biggest stars make more money off the court than they do playing basketball and it could explain why big-name players are so quick to switch teams
• Why the NBA world is enthralled with Luka Doncic, the Mavericks' 19-year-old Slovenian rookie who is already dominating the NBA

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why hosting the Super Bowl isn't worth it, according to an economist

• The Alliance of American Football presents the most viable secondary football league that America has seen in years.
• The Alliance has differentiated itself from leagues that came before it in several ways, most notably in its relationship with the NFL.
• Alliance co-founder Charlie Ebersol spoke with INSIDER about the mistakes other pro football leagues made, and how his plans to avoid them and turn into a sustainable business.

The Alliance of American Football got off to a pretty solid start.

If football fans were looking for a fix from their favorite sport after the Super Bowl, the AAF treated them to four games during its inaugural weekend. There was some solid football and a few highlight-reel plays that you'd never see in today's NFL.

Read more:The AAF had a strong first weekend, but there was only one play that everybody was talking about

Many secondary football leagues have come and gone through the years of the NFL's dominance, but the Alliance, led by co-founders Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian, know their history and are keen to avoid the mistakes of those that came before them.

Ebersol was inspired to create the league after directing the documentary "This Was the XFL" for ESPN's "30 for 30" series, which told the story of the last league to take on the NFL through the relationship between his father Dick Ebersol, a monumental executive at NBC Sports, and WWE chairman Vince McMahon.

Days before the Alliance officially kicked off, Ebersol spoke with INSIDER about the lessons he learned from other pro football leagues, identifying three big mistakes they made, and how his planned to avoid them.

Here are the mistakes the other leagues made:

1. Seeing the NFL as the competition, rather than a partner

The relationship between the AAF and the NFL is probably the most dramatic difference between this upstart and those that came before it.

Unlike other secondary football leagues, which positioned themselves as a rival for the NFL, the Alliance sees itself as partners with the league, even broadcasting its games on NFL Network.

"One of the things I took away from my father was that — 17 years ago one of the biggest mistakes they made in launching the XFL was that it was about 'The NFL was the No Fun League!' and they're going to compete with the NFL," Ebersol told INSIDER.

"It tells players they should not play in your league, because their ultimate goal — to get back to the NFL and play in the Super Bowl — will be undermined by the fact that you're directly competing with the partner that you want to be in business with."

The AAF is made up of many players who have spent time in the NFL, both on active rosters and practice squads, and pitched itself as a possible road back to the league, rather than an opposing force.

"We really felt it was important to be in a symbiotic relationship with them and complementary to the NFL," Ebersol said. "We created something called the 'NFL-out' in our contracts which allows players to leave our league and go play in the NFL."

The relationship between the Alliance and the NFL goes beyond player contracts. While not an explicit testing ground, it's clear that the Alliance is already testing out potential rule changes that the NFL might adopt, such as the elimination of kickoffs.

By creating a positive relationship with the NFL, the Alliance made itself a more attractive destination for both fans and players.

2. Battling for major markets

While Ebersol was building the league, he decided to not only to avoid taking on the NFL but also to avoid battling for attention in over-crowded markets.

"Another mistake that gets made in these alternative leagues is that they think they’ve got to go the major media markets and directly compete with all of the other assets," Ebersol told INSIDER. "You go to New York, and you're competing with the Yankees and the Knicks and the Rangers and the Islanders and the Mets. It gets to a point where you are unnecessarily handicapping yourself."

The Alliance is made up of eight teams for its inaugural season, with host cities selected for a wide range of reasons — weather, potential interest, recruiting, and more.

"One of the things that we really paid attention to was the weather," Ebersol said. "You see that all of our teams in year one are in the south. Part of the reason for that is they're the number one recruiting states in the country — Florida, Texas, California, Alabama, Tennessee — there’s a reason we're going to those states. On top of that, there's no barrier of entry to go to the stadium. We can offer a $10 ticket, and people don't have to be wearing a parka the whole time."

3. Over-selling the product

Ebersol believes the football should speak for itself.

"I think from our perspective, one of the mistakes that has been made in the past is that there was so much money put behind marketing, there was so much money put behind awareness that ultimately what happened was people's expectations were completely out of whack," Ebersol said. "We have a business plan centered around the idea that we need to take our time, and we need to grow into our audience."

Ebersol argued that while other leagues have tried to change or amplify certain aspects of football, the sport is a perfect case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

"When football goes off the air, about 70 million to 80 million people stop watching sports on the weekend," Ebersol said. "When they do that, it's not as if they're saying 'I want some new, crazy, weird version of football.' They want to see football. I think that's always been a weird thing. I've never understood why people thought 'Oh I've got to completely reinvent this game which for the last 60 years has been the most dominant thing in all of television.'"

Through one week, Ebersol's logic proved sound — the inaugural game of the Alliance that was broadcast on CBS beat the night's marquee NBA matchup between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder on ABC.

There's no telling whether or not the Alliance will succeed in the long run, but Ebersol and his partners have learned from the leagues that came before them, and seem prepared to avoid their mistakes.

The transportation and logistics industry is undergoing a massive shift as a result of surging deliveries. Daily parcel volumes are higher than ever before — but so are customers’ expectations for cheap and fast fulfillment. 

To keep up with mounting demand, retailers and their logistics partners have been racing to develop more efficient processes with experimental supply chain models like crowdsourced delivery — the Uber model in which customers use mobile apps to connect directly with local couriers for on-demand or same-day fulfillment.

And it’s not just startups like Deliv and Postmates getting in on the action. This year Amazon not only launched its own shipping service to deliver packages for other businesses (“Shipping with Amazon”) but also announced its “Delivery Service Partner” program, which provides capital incentives for people to launch their own delivery companies fulfilling orders on behalf of Amazon itself.

With emerging delivery models like these aggressively stealing away customers, the pressure is on for legacy players like FedEx, UPS, the USPS, and the thousands of businesses who depend on them every day, to respond. But it will take more than just material resources or a large fleet of vehicles to truly compete. These companies need to earn the trust of consumers.

Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, has obtained exclusive survey data to paint the 2018 delivery landscape and the trends of its major players. The findings comprise the team’s latest Enterprise Edge Report, The 2018 Delivery Trust Report, and give transportation, supply chain, and logistics companies the tools they’ll need to win back customers.

Enterprise Edge Reports are the very best research Business Insider Intelligence has to offer in terms of actionable recommendations and proprietary data, and they are only available to Enterprise clients.

In full, the study:

• Uses proprietary consumer survey data to evaluate how the largest delivery companies in the US stack up on customer service, package tracking, package protection, and timeliness of delivery.
• Assesses how at risk these providers are to new challengers entering the space.
• Shares strategies on how delivery companies can achieve feature parity and, ideally, differentiation, in customer experience.

So, which delivery features do consumers care about?

First and foremost, speed. It makes sense that consumers value fast delivery, but did you know just how many of them prioritize this feature? According to a recent survey from Dropoff, it’s 99%. And with millions of packages delivered nationwide every single day, that’s a lot customers with high expectations.

But customers don’t just want their packages delivered quickly; they want to follow the journey from store to doorstep. Another one of the most important offerings delivery companies boast is real-time tracking, with nearly 90% of consumers noting it in the Dropoff survey.

If they can get it right, tracking is a twofold advantage for delivery companies; it entices consumers who want to know when their packages are coming, and it appeals to merchant partners who might be willing to switch delivery service providers for the added visibility and customer benefit.

And the field is still wide open for companies to differentiate on this feature. Among those who had a package delivered from UPS, FedEx, USPS, or DHL in the last year, nearly 30% of Business Insider Intelligence survey respondents couldn't actually say which company offered the best tracking features. Whether it means using mobile apps, SMS texting, or chatbots to communicate with customers, there’s plenty of opportunity for logistics companies to hone and become known for this feature.

Want to learn more?

This is just a snapshot of the Business Insider Intelligence 2018 Delivery Trust Report, which compiles the complete survey findings to dive deeper into the opportunities delivery companies have to engage and delight customers.

The multi-part report also presents actionable insights that transportation and logistics companies can use to fight back against Amazon’s continuous push into deliveries.

Join the conversation about this story »

This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here.

What is eSports? History & Rise of Video Game Tournaments

Years ago, eSports was a community of video gamers who would gather at conventions to play Counter Strike, Call of Duty, or League of Legends.

These multiplayer video game competitions would determine League of Legends champions, the greatest shooters in Call of Duty, the cream of the crop of Street Fighter players, the elite Dota 2 competitors, and more.

But today, as the history of eSports continue to unfold, media giants such as ESPN and Turner are broadcasting eSports tournaments and competitions. And in 2014, Amazon acquired Twitch, the live streaming video platform that has been and continues to be the leader in online gaming broadcasts. And YouTube also wanted to jump on the live streaming gaming community with the creation of YouTube Gaming.

eSports Market Growth Booming

To put in perspective how big eSports is becoming, a Google search for "lol" does not produce "laughing out loud" as the top result. Instead, it points to League of Legends, one of the most popular competitive games in existence. The game has spawned a worldwide community called the League of Legends Championship Series, more commonly known as LCS or LOL eSports.

What started as friends gathering in each other's homes to host LAN parties and play into the night has become an official network of pro gaming tournaments and leagues with legitimate teams, some of which are even sponsored and have international reach. Organizations such as Denial, AHQ, and MLG have multiple eSports leagues.

And to really understand the scope of all this, consider that the prize pool for the latest Dota 2 tournament was more than $20 million.

Websites even exist for eSports live scores to let people track the competitions in real time if they are unable to watch. There are even fantasy eSports leagues similar to fantasy football, along with the large and growing scene of eSports betting and gambling.

So it's understandable why traditional media companies would want to capitalize on this growing trend just before it floods into the mainstream. Approximately 300 million people worldwide tune in to eSports today, and that number is growing rapidly. By 2020, that number will be closer to 500 million.

eSports Industry Analysis - The Future of the Competitive Gaming Market

Financial institutions are starting to take notice. Goldman Sachs valued eSports at $500 million in 2016 and expects the market will grow at 22% annually compounded over the next three years into a more than $1 billion opportunity.

And industry statistics are already backing this valuation and demonstrating the potential for massive earnings. To illustrate the market value, market growth, and potential earnings for eSports, consider Swedish media company Modern Times Group's $87 million acquisition of Turtle Entertainment, the holding company for ESL. YouTube has made its biggest eSports investment to date by signing a multiyear broadcasting deal with Faceit to stream the latter's Esports Championship Series. And the NBA will launch its own eSports league in 2018.

Of course, as with any growing phenomenon, the question becomes: How do advertisers capitalize? This is especially tricky for eSports because of its audience demographics, which is young, passionate, male-dominated, and digital-first. They live online and on social media, are avid ad-blockers, and don't watch traditional TV or respond to conventional advertising.

So what will the future of eSports look like? How high can it climb? Could it reach the mainstream popularity of baseball or football? How will advertisers be able to reach an audience that does its best to shield itself from advertising?

Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled an unparalleled report on the eSports ecosystem that dissects the growing market for competitive gaming. This comprehensive, industry-defining report contains more than 30 charts and figures that forecast audience growth, average revenue per user, and revenue growth.

Companies and organizations mentioned in the report include: NFL, NBA, English Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, NHL, Paris Saint-Germain, Ligue 1, Ligue de Football, Twitch, Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, ESPN, Electronic Arts, EA Sports, Valve, Riot Games, Activision Blizzard, ESL, Turtle Entertainment, Dreamhack, Modern Times Group, Turner Broadcasting, TBS Network, Vivendi, Canal Plus, Dailymotion, Disney, BAMTech, Intel, Coca Cola, Red Bull, HTC, Mikonet

Here are some eSports industry facts and statistics from the report:

• eSports is a still nascent industry filled with commercial opportunity.
• There are a variety of revenue streams that companies can tap into.
• The market is presently undervalued and has significant room to grow.
• The dynamism of this market distinguishes it from traditional sports.
• The audience is high-value and global, and its numbers are rising.
• Brands can prosper in eSports by following the appropriate game plan.
• Game publishers approach their Esport ecosystems in different ways.  
• Successful esport games are comprised of the same basic ingredients.
• Digital streaming platforms are spearheading the popularity of eSports.
• Legacy media are investing into eSports, and seeing encouraging results.
• Traditional sports franchises have a clear opportunity to seize in eSports.
• Virtual and augmented reality firms also stand to benefit from eSports.  

In full, the report illuminates the business of eSports from four angles:

• The gaming nucleus of eSports, including an overview of popular esport genres and games; the influence of game publishers, and the spectrum of strategies they adopt toward their respective esport scenes; the role of eSports event producers and the tournaments they operate.
• The eSports audience profile, its size, global reach, and demographic, psychographic, and behavioral attributes; the underlying factors driving its growth; why they are an attractive target for brands and broadcasters; and the significant audience and commercial crossover with traditional sports.
• eSports media broadcasters, including digital avant-garde like Twitch and YouTube, newer digital entrants like Facebook and traditional media outlets like Turner’s TBS Network, ESPN, and Canal Plus; their strategies and successes in this space; and the virtual reality opportunity.
• eSports market economics, with a market sizing, growth forecasts, and regional analyses; an evaluation of the eSports spectacle and its revenue generators, some of which are idiosyncratic to this industry; strategic planning for brand marketers, with case studies; and an exploration of the infinite dynamism and immense potential of the eSports economy.

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Esports, which is short for electronic sports, refers to competitive video gaming watched by spectators. Esports are not as mainstream as traditional sports in the US, but the number of esports fans globally is still sizable. The worldwide esports audience reached 335 million in 2017, according to Newzoo. 

And there’s still significant room for growth beyond that — we predict that 600 million consumers globally will watch esports in 2023, up 79% from 2017. 

A growing number of brands are acting to capitalize on the growth of esports as the majority of professional gaming fans are millennials and open to brand sponsors. Sixty-two percent of US esports viewers are aged 18-34, according to Activate, while 58% have a positive attitude towards brand involvement in esports, per Nielsen.

Meanwhile, Newzoo anticipates global esports sponsorship revenue to reach $359 million in 2018, up 53% year-over-year. The growing esports audience and brand activity helps explains why high-profile public figures are jumping in to capitalize on the action: In late October, basketball legend Michael Jordan and platinum-selling artist Drake both made investments into separate esports ventures, for example. 

In this report, Business Insider Intelligence will explain the growth of the esports audience and why it presents an attractive advertising opportunity for brands. We'll begin by exploring the key drivers and barriers affecting esports audience growth. Finally, we'll detail the benefits of advertising to esports fans and outline the best practices for implementing a successful esports ad campaign.

The companies mentioned in this report are: Alibaba, Arby's, Audi, Bud Light, Hyundai, Intel, Mastercard, McDonald's, Red Bull, Skillz, and Turner.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• The number of esports fans globally is anticipated to climb 59% over the next five years, but there’s still significant room for growth.
• This expansion will be driven by many factors, including investment from traditional sports leagues, a higher number of broadcast deals, and the expansion of the mobile-based esports scene.
• The majority of esports fans are millennials, while data suggests that Gen Zers are more receptive to nontraditional sports, like esports, than traditional sports.
• Brands can sponsor esports leagues, competitions, and players as well as advertise on digital platforms like Twitch to reach the eyeballs of esports fans.
• Whatever shape a brand's esports ad campaign eventually takes, displaying an authentic commitment to the gaming world is paramount.

 In full, the report:

• Outlines the drivers and potential barriers to esports audience growth.
• Details the various reasons esports fans are a compelling advertising opportunity for brands.
• Discusses the different ways brands can invest spend to reach the eyeballs of esports fans.
• Explains best practices brands advertising to esports fans should adopt in order to make inroads with the gaming community. 

SEE ALSO: The eSports competitive video gaming market continues to grow revenues & attract investors

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This is a preview of a research report fromBusiness Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence,click here. Current subscribers can read the reporthere.

Virtual reality (VR) offers immersive experiences in which users can hear, see, and interact with 360-degree digital environments using head-mounted displays (HMDs) and handheld motion devices. The technology has been historically associated with consumer-facing gaming, but it’s been gaining traction in the enterprise over the past year.

In fact, companies such as Macy’s, Lowe’s, Walmart, and UPS, among others, have all launched new VR programs since 2017. And as more businesses look to tap the technology, this will drive enterprise VR hardware and software revenue to jump 587% to $5.5 billion in 2023, up from an estimated $800 million in 2018, according to Business Insider Intelligence estimates.

This shows that retailers and brands should look into implementing VR as early as possible to better compete with other industry players who’ve started to use the tech, especially in three key areas: sales, employee training, and product development. All of the companies mentioned above are using VR to in at least one of these areas, enabling them to increase product sales, reduce product design costs, or speed up employee training processes, for instance.

In the VR In The Enterprise report, Business Insider Intelligence explores how VR can provide value to retailers and brands in three areas: sales, employee training, and product development.

The report begins by discussing potential pain points the technology addresses for each use case, examining in-depth case studies to illustrate how companies have implemented the technology, and outlining the broader takeaways each use case presents for brands and retailers.

Finally, it looks at some of the potential barriers to further enterprise adoption and how both companies and VR incumbents are actively addressing those obstacles.

The companies mentioned in the report are: Audi, Lowe's, Macy's, McLaren Automotive, Walmart, and UPS, among others.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• VR enables consumers in brick-and-mortar stores to make more informed purchases, which could increase sales conversion rates.
• Brands and retailers looking to ramp up their employees quicker should consider bringing VR into their training processes.
• The tech can shorten brands' and retailers' product development life cycles by cutting down on the time associated with building expensive physical prototypes.

In full, the report:

• Identifies key VR vendors and device form factors for businesses to consider.
• Discusses key benefits the tech brings businesses for their sales, training, and product development processes.
• Illustrates those key benefits by discussing real-world case studies from companies and the takeaways from those implementations.

SEE ALSO: When it comes to VR hardware, consumers are balancing price point and experience

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• Vice President Mike Pence brought greeting from President Donald Trump to the Munich Security Conference on Friday — and was met with several seconds of silence.
• The Munich Security Conference is an annual meeting that has taken place since the Cold War, in which leaders address major foreign policy challenges.
• But the conference attendees openly criticized Trump, noting in the conference report that Trump has an "irritating enthusiasm for strongmen across the globe" and a "disdain for international institutions."

Vice President Mike Pence was met with several beats of awkward silence on Friday when he mentioned President Donald Trump during a speech at the Munich Security Conference, which featured a host of world leaders and European allies.

Pence paused for applause after praising Trump for his purported efforts to "strengthen America's military might and to strengthen the leadership of the free world."

"I bring greetings from the 45th president of the United States of America, President Donald Trump," Pence said. The audience didn't make a sound.

Pence was speaking at the conference's John McCain Dissertation Award ceremony, named after the late Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a vehement critic of Trump.

Read more: 12 times Trump provoked a backlash with the US military and veterans in 2018

In a second speech on Saturday, Pence again brought greetings from Trump to the conference — and this time was met with polite applause.

The Munich Security Conference is an annual meeting that has taken place since the Cold War, in which leaders address major foreign policy challenges.

But Trump has been viewed by such leaders as hostile to the goals of strengthening a liberal world order. The conference report made note of such tensions, calling out Trump for his frequent praise of dictators and his constant disparagement of global alliances such as NATO.

"Moreover, the US effort to rally 'the noble nations of the world to build a new liberal order' and to oppose authoritarian great powers would be far more credible if President Trump and his administration did not display an irritating enthusiasm for strongmen across the globe," the report said.

It continued: "This disdain for international institutions and agreements has repeatedly pitted the US against its major allies in recent years."

• Read more:
• Trump's 2014 comments criticizing Obama for taking executive action 'because he is unable to negotiate w/ Congress' are coming back to haunt him
• Trump will declare a national emergency to build his border wall. Here's what could happen next.
• Democrats are working to expose Trump's private conversations with Putin
• Texas secretary of state apologized for inaccurate claim of 95,000 non-citizen voters that Trump tweeted as evidence of voter fraud

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 8 key takeaways from Trump's State of the Union address

• Heather Nauert, the spokeswoman for the State Department and President Donald Trump's pick as US Ambassador to the United Nations, announced Saturday she was withdrawing from consideration.
• She said the last two months had been "grueling" for her family.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert announced Saturday she was withdrawing from consideration as US ambassador to the United Nations, saying the last two months have been "grueling" for her family.

Had Nauert been confirmed, she would have replaced former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, who resigned from the position last October.

President Donald Trump said in December 2018 he would nominate Nauert to the position. Nauert is a former Fox News host and joined the State Department in April 2017, initially serving under then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

"I am grateful to President Trump and Secretary Pompeo for the trust they placed in me for considering me for the position of US Ambassador to the United Nations," she said in a statement. "However, the past two months have been grueling for my family and therefore it is in the best interest of my family that I withdraw my name from consideration."

Nauert's proposed nomination had garnered criticism over her lack of credentials — Nauert lacked foreign policy experience.

But her nomination was jeopardized after her background check revealed that she had employed a nanny who resided in the US legally, but was not authorized to work, Bloomberg News reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.

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NOW WATCH: Watch President Trump announce deal to end the government shutdown for 3 weeks

• Digital trust is the confidence people have in a platform to protect their information and provide a safe environment for them to create and engage with content.
• Business Insider Intelligence surveyed over 1,300 global consumers to evaluate their perception of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
• Consumers’ Digital Trust rankings differ across security, legitimacy, community, user experience, shareability, and relevance for the six major social networks.

If you feel like “fake news” and spammy social media feeds dominate your Internet experience, you’re not alone. Digital trust, the confidence people have in platforms to protect their information and provide a safe environment to create and engage with content, is in jeopardy.

In fact, in a new Business Insider Intelligence survey of more than 1,300 global consumers, over half (54%) said that fake news and scams were "extremely impactful” or “very impactful” on their decision to engage with ads and sponsored content.

For businesses, this distrust has financial ramifications. It’s no longer enough to craft a strong message; brands, marketers, and social platforms need to focus their energy on getting it to consumers in an environment where they are most receptive. When brands reach consumers on platforms that they trust, they enhance their credibility and increase the likelihood of receiving positive audience engagement.

The Digital Trust Report 2018, the latest Enterprise Edge Report from Business Insider Intelligence, compiles this exclusive survey data to analyze consumer perceptions of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

The survey breaks down consumers’ perceptions of social media across six pillars of trust: security, legitimacy, community, user experience, shareability, and relevance. The results? LinkedIn ran away with it.

As the most trusted platform for the second year in a row – and an outlier in the overall survey results – LinkedIn took the top spot for nearly every pillar of trust — and there are a few reasons why:

• LinkedIn continues to benefit from the professional nature of its community — users on the platform tend to be well behaved and have less personal information at risk, which makes for a more trusting environment.
• LinkedIn users are likely more selective and mindful about engagement when interacting within their professional network, which may increase trust in its content.
• Content on LinkedIn is typically published by career-minded individuals and organizations seeking to promote professional interests, and is therefore seen as higher quality than other platforms’. This bodes well for advertisers and publishers to be viewed as forthright, honest, persuasive, and trustworthy.

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The Digital Trust Report 2018 illustrates how social platforms have been on a roller coaster ride of data, user privacy, and brand safety scandals since our first installment of the report in 2017.

In full, the report analyzes key changes in rankings from 2017, identifies trends in millennials' behavior on social media, and highlights where these platforms (as well as advertisers) have opportunities to capture their attention.

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• Charles Barkley first met Dirk Nowitzki at an exhibition game in 1997, and the then-18-year-old German big man scored 52 points against a team of NBA All-Stars.
• According to Barkley, he introduced himself to Nowitzki and tried to convince Nowitzki to play for his alma mater, Auburn University.
• Barkley said Nowitzki baffled him by saying he had to join the army.
• Nowitzki later said he didn't go to an American college because he didn't want a coach to change his game. He was drafted to the NBA in 1998.
• Follow all of Business Insider's 2019 NBA All-Star coverage here >

The first time Dirk Nowitzki met Charles Barkley, he stunned the 11-time All-Star and Hall of Famer.

In 1997, then-18-year-old Nowitzki played for a German team against a group of NBA All-Stars at the Nike Hoop Heroes exhibition game.

Nowitzki, who would get drafted in 1998, scored 52 points against the NBA team, blowing away a group that included legends like Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, and more.

On Thursday, at a Turner Sports media availability at the NBA All-Star Weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina, Barkley recounted in hilarious detail how he met Nowitzki after the game and tried to recruit him to his alma mater, Auburn University.

"I went up to him after the game, I said, 'Who are you?'" Barkley said on Thursday. "He said 'Dirk Nowitzki.'

"I said, 'How old are you?''" Barkley recounted. "He's like, 'I'm 18.'

"I said, 'Where you going to college? I've got a good college for you.' I said, 'Let's call the people, let me get some information, because I want you to go to my college.'"

Barkley said he was stunned when Nowitzki said he had to go to join the army.

"I said, 'Dude, you're 7 feet tall, you're not going in the f---ing army. Stop it.'"

Barkley has told the story before, once from a charity softball game that Nowitzki was also participating in. Barkley said at the time that after the exhibition game, he called Nike to tell them about Nowitzki and told them that he would give Nowitzki anything he wanted to go to Auburn.

"He would have did good at Auburn ... In the SEC, dude, we make sure you're well taken care of," Barkley joked at the game.

Nowitzki played professionally in Germany and went directly to the NBA instead of choosing an American college. He later told Dan Patrick that he was afraid an American school would try to make him a more traditional, back-to-the-basket big man.

Now 40 years old and in what many people believe will be his last season, Nowitzki is an NBA legend himself, revered by all.

"When he got 50 on us, a bunch of NBA players, at 18 years old, I knew he was the real deal," Barkley said on Thursday. "He's the greatest foreign basketball player ever. It's been an honor and privilege to play against him, and he's just a great person too. He's just a great person. Nobody's gonna say a bad word about Dirk Nowitzki."

• Read more:
• Shaquille O'Neal explained why his father's advice about staying 'broke' changed his life
• Shaquille O'Neal says he would be like the 'Greek Freak' and average 40 points per game if he played in the NBA today
• Photos of what this year's NBA All-Stars looked like when their careers started

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