Day: November 11, 2025

• Drone disruptions in the West are growing, as is the variety of their targets.
• A counter-drone CEO said the West must “expand our thinking” on threats and defenses.
• Drones in Ukraine and drone disruption in the US and Europe have sparked a new urgency for counter-drone systems.

The West needs to see the bigger picture when it comes to the drone threat, a counter-drone tech company is warning. The number of potential targets is skyrocketing, going well beyond war.

Matt McCrann, CEO of DroneShield’s US arm, told Business Insider that in the US alone, “there’s a lot of area to cover,” from critical infrastructure and large gatherings to speaking events and landmarks.

“We definitely have to expand our thinking as far as the potential threats and how we guard against them,” he said.

The use of drones in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — including massive bombardments that have struck civilian infrastructure as well as military sites — has alarmed the West, showing how future wars may be fought.

And concerns are only growing, even outside active conflict, with more Russian and unidentified drones crossing into European airspace, flying near military bases, and disrupting civilian areas like airports. In the US, there have been hundreds of drone incursions over military sites.

DroneShield, an Australian company with US operations, makes counter-drone tech that detects, tracks, and disrupts drones by jamming their radio links, and it’s noticing a growing demand. It has multimillion-dollar US military contracts and a range of systems operating in Ukraine.

McCrann said that week after week, there’s rising “alertness about drones and the threats that they pose” to airports, critical infrastructure, energy and data centers, and sporting events. And awareness that drone defenses are inadequate is “snowballing,” he said.

The drone threat is here

In Europe, where DroneShield is expanding, drones are becoming a serious problem. Incidents include Russian drones entering Polish airspace — prompting NATO F-16s and F-35s to respond — and repeated sightings near northern military bases. Some countries have seen airports repeatedly disrupted as drones fly nearby.

McCrann said the concern is evident in incidents around large US sporting events. The NFL said that there were 2,537 reported unauthorized drone flights over games in 2022 and 2,845 in 2023. Many have resulted in disruptions.

He said that “there’s at least a couple of games every couple of weeks or so where there’s a high-profile drone flying over a stadium of 70,000 people and nobody knows the source of that drone or its intent.”

There hasn’t been a major incident yet, McCrann said, but it might only take one drone with bad intent to make the danger clear. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen, he said, but drone tech has already collided with helicopters, forced down emergency aircraft, and grounded planes for hours at airports.

In many cases, it takes a serious wake-up call to really generate investment, he said, but people are recognizing the risk and urgency, with budgets increasingly aligning more closely with policies and technological capability.

A new equation

In Ukraine, where the Russians often launch hundreds of drones in a single night, apartment buildings, energy facilities, schools, hospitals, and public spaces are regularly hit thousands of miles from the front-line fighting.

It’s a massive problem — not only stopping the drones but also the cost imbalance. A single interceptor for a US-made Patriot air-defense system costs about $4 million, while attack drones can cost only thousands. That’s forcing Ukraine to innovate.

NATO has concluded that it has underinvested for decades in ground-based air defenses to stop missiles and drones. It now sees the need for cheaper, faster-to-deploy defenses, but efforts to drive development have only recently gained momentum.

Adm. Pierre Vandier, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, who oversees modernization efforts, told Business Insider previously that NATO is building a “Walmart” of cheap counter-drone systems. “We need to find a mass versus mass solution,” he said. “We are working on that, and the goal I’ve given to my team is a cost-efficient solution in order to match the threat.”

Lessons from Ukraine

The drone threat was growing even before Russia’s invasion. Iran and its proxies used drones against Saudi oil fields, and drones have been used in assassinations, including by the US military, and in disruptions at airports and bases.

But now, particularly with the war in Ukraine, drone technology is being used more than in any conflict in history, their numbers, technology, and inventive use creating a new level of risk. Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb, which snuck drones deep into Russia and unleashed swarms of them to set aircraft on fire, showed that large-scale attacks can originate from unexpected places.

Ukraine, through necessity, has had to pioneer cheaper ways to stop enemy drones, including building interceptor drones — drones designed to stop and destroy other drones. McCrann called Ukraine “a big part” of ongoing innovation in the sector.

Western militaries were investing in this space but are now pursuing it more aggressively. McCrann said “the emphasis and the urgency coming out of Europe and NATO allies” has been reflected in soaring demand.

For DroneShield, the US has long made up 70 to 80% of its business, but now “we are seeing Europe as basically as large of a potential market or addressable market for us as the US, or at least close.” The company is still investing heavily in the US, doubling its workforce there. As “much success as we’ve had here, we’ve just scratched the surface of meeting the demand,” he said. That’s been playing out over the past six months to a year.

McCrann said the thousands of systems DroneShield has put in Ukraine have given them data and feedback “on how to improve our systems and make them better.”

A NATO-Russia war wouldn’t look much like the one in Ukraine, as NATO has far greater combat power, but when it comes to drones, the West’s concerns go far beyond the battlefield.

“This threat is here to stay, and it moves very quickly,” McCrann said. It evolves as fast as the creativity and ingenuity of the people experimenting with it on the front lines.

He called that “a scary thought,” but as a company in the space, “we have to realize that that is the reality and our solutions have to be different than what this industry was building five, 10 years ago when we first started.”

• I’ve been married 10 years, and I still remember opening our gifts.
• I’m surprised by what we still use and treasure after all these years.
• It’s a reminder that no matter what plans you have, life changes— often, in a beautiful way.

I remember opening our bounty of wedding gifts vividly. Ten years ago, right after our wedding, my husband and I road-tripped to New Orleans for our honeymoon, and we passed the time on the road by opening a gift every hour or so. With every bit of tissue paper, we felt like the most well-loved people in the world.

Friends and family gave us so many of the things we needed to set up our home and start our family. I thought for sure that every single kind gesture would be bright in my mind forever, but it turns out that many of the specifics of those gifts have faded and been replaced by the feeling of the warm glow of support I felt opening them, as my mind has filled up with 10 more years of life.

Some gifts have stood the test of time

Time makes forgetful people of us all, and I can now look around my home and only dimly remember which items are from which family members and friends. I do remember some items: I remember that my husband’s ex-girlfriend, of all people, got me the super-useful hanging rack that holds all my pots and pans in the kitchen; I remember that a bunch of the pottery we own came from a dear friend whose family has a pottery business, allowing him to give us a truly lavish gift of handmade items without having to pay retail for them himself.

And while I appreciate the various housewares that have stood the test of time and not broken in this decade of use, the things that stick with me are really because of memories attached to them, not just utility.

Two friends painted detailed tropical scenes on big wine glasses as one of our wedding gifts, and they made every sip more festive for the last 10 years. Another pair of friends chose to commission some simple paintings of a couple under an umbrella, and every time I see them, I think about how my husband and I are trying to shelter each other, to be each other’s companion, no matter what rain may fall.

Even gifts that change or get repurposed are memories

I’ve been a lucky person; while I’ve lost some dear family members, over the 10 years of my marriage, I’ve also had very special years with so many of the people who matter to me. My great-grandmother, who specialized in making intricate lace, designed a beautiful wall hanging featuring my new last name for us that still hangs in my home.

The memories associated with it are bittersweet, since she passed away a few years ago. It brought me joy about my new last name when I first saw it. Now it brings me nostalgia, remembering the good conversations I had with her and her no-nonsense approach to life, and delight in hearing stories about my young son.

Similarly, some of the housewares got repurposed over the years. I’ve never been one to remember to pull out the salad spinner, even though it’s an incredibly useful tool for the task after which it’s named.

However, when my son was a baby, he stumbled upon our wedding-gift salad spinner and took to it immediately. The family member who gifted it to us didn’t know we’d ever have a kid, much less that he’d be learning cause and effect as he pushed the buttons to make the contraption spin and stop, over and over.

Accepting how marriage changes

My husband and I have aged, of course, and having a son means that we have daily visible evidence of the passing of time. However, the gifts we still treasure from our wedding are proof both of the persistent love of those around us, as well as evidence that everything does evolve.

Like the concept that humans lose and regenerate cells so often that we’re somewhat “new people” every 7-10 years, our marriage is constantly shedding its skin, growing, morphing, and becoming a different thing. When we need new linens or when one of our favorite mugs breaks, it’s just a sign that we’re in it for the long haul, no matter how much marriage — and all our associated stuff — changes.

• Marriott ended its licensing agreement with Sonder, a short-term rental company.
• On Sunday, it told its guests staying at Sonder properties to vacate as soon as possible.
• Guests scrambled to find new accommodations, paying hundreds for last-minute bookings.

Steve McGraw booked with Marriott in November, excited to spend a joyous 17 days in New York City with his daughter and newborn, premature granddaughter.

McGraw, a retired tech executive, holds Elite status with Marriott Bonvoy. He expected his stay at the Marriott-partnered Sonder Battery Park Apartments in NYC’s financial district to be like the hundreds of visits he’s had with the hotel group over the last 40 years.

On Sunday, about a week into his and his wife’s stay, he received emails from Marriott and Sonder Holdings, which operates the property, telling him to vacate by 9 a.m. the next day.

“We ended up spending several thousand dollars more to find a new place,” McGraw said. “It was very, very disruptive. They treated us so poorly.”

McGraw was one of the Marriott-Sonder guests who were unceremoniously booted from Sonder’s properties on Monday. The short-term rental firm and onetime Airbnb rival filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Monday, and Marriott said that it had terminated its licensing agreement, signed in August 2024.

Business Insider spoke to 11 Sonder guests, who described travel chaos, employee mismanagement, financial fallout, and a loss of trust in the Marriott brand after the fiasco.

Sonder, which operates 140 properties and about 7,700 apartments, is just a sliver of Marriott’s nearly 1.8 million rooms. Neither company responded to Business Insider’s requests for comment.

On Sunday, Marriott said that customers who had booked a Sonder property through Marriott’s channels would get a full refund. The company added that customers with future reservations would receive an email about the “potential to rebook at another Marriott Bonvoy property.”

Blindsided by the short notice

Paul Strack, a 63-year-old business owner from Arkansas, said he came back to his Sonder apartment in Boston on Sunday to find all his luggage packed and moved to the hallway.

“They handled all our personal belongings, toiletries, clothing, computers, electronics,” Strack said. “Some they packed into suitcases, and some they put in plastic bags. It was quite shocking and very impersonal.”

Lenny Coynault, a 23-year-old tourist from Paris who works in public relations, said that he thought Marriott’s email was a scam and disregarded it.

When he returned to the Sonder apartment in NYC, which he was planning to stay in for two weeks, he found guests confused at reception and staff unable to provide answers.

“Being told to leave after only five days, and the lack of customer care, was surprising and disappointing to say the least,” Coynault said.

He said that once he receives his refund for the canceled nights, he will delete the Marriott app and end his membership with the hotel — he has been a Bonvoy member since 2021.

Alec Arritola, a 27-year-old Harvard student, said staff at his Sonder hotel in Boston were as blindsided as he was.

“I immediately went to the office to speak with the manager, who was also shocked and saddened to learn she would lose her job today,” Arritola said. He had been planning to stay in the residence for 18 nights.

Shelling out cash to book alternative accommodation

Guests that Business Insider spoke to said they lost hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of dollars because they had to book last-minute accommodations.

Craig Murphy, a 59-year-old health insurance broker from Houston, is leaving for New Orleans on Thursday for a week for his daughter’s Saturday wedding. The father of the bride said he was dumbfounded when he saw Sonder’s notice.

“It will cost me an additional $1,401 to book a last-minute reservation at a comparable Marriott property,” said Murphy, who said he is traveling with his six members of his family.

“This does not take into account the time and frustration of renegotiating the cost of three limousines, rescheduling a hair stylist, flower delivery, and informing all guests to deliver any wedding gifts to the new location,” he added.

Ahmed Alsheikh, a 35-year-old tourist from Saudi Arabia, was set to arrive in NYC for a family trip on Thursday. He said he panicked and considered canceling the trip because he could not find alternative accommodations.

“I ended up looking for something on my own, which costs significantly more due to the short notice and limited availability,” he said. Alsheikh, who works at a Saudi development fund, said Sonder had charged him $5,083 for the eight-night stay, which had not been refunded to him.

“I will not book with Marriott again until this is resolved and I feel fairly compensated,” he said.

April Walloga, a 44-year-old remote worker staying in a Sonder residence in NYC for a month, said Marriott had not secured any other accommodations for her.

“I’ll now have to find housing for the rest of the month at short notice,” Walloga said. “Given current rates in Lower Manhattan, I estimate that rebooking comparable accommodations could cost me at least $3,000 more than my original reservation.”

“This has seriously changed my perception of Marriott’s customer service and reliability,” Walloga said.

• Visa is partnering with startup Karat Financial to launch AI-powered financial tools for creators.
• They target emerging creators, offering advice and automated payment solutions.
• The effort also includes an AI agent that can assist in evaluating brand deal offers.

Credit card giant Visa is deepening its relationship with the creator economy.

At Web Summit in Lisbon on Tuesday, Visa is set to announce a program with Karat Financial, a fintech startup that provides credit cards and banking tailored to content creators. The program is scheduled to launch in 2026 for Karat’s clients and will initially be free, with the possibility of becoming a paid service in the future.

The program will offer tools to help with tasks including setting up automated prompts to vendors about unpaid invoices and enrolling their bills in autopay. It will also feature an AI agent that can assist in evaluating brand deal offers.

Any tools that ease the work of chasing payments can be beneficial to creators, said Kyle Hjelmeseth, CEO of G&B Digital Management, a creator-management company. Brands that say they’ll pay in 30 days often take up to 60 and even 120 days, causing some creators to run into trouble paying rent and hampering their ability to plan and take risks.

“When I started doing this 10 years ago, I was sending invoices on behalf of creators and follow-ups,” Hjelmeseth said. “Are brands paying more on time than they were 10 years ago? Absolutely not. It’s a huge issue for a normal creator.”

Visa says it geared the tools toward people who are trying to be full-time creators and are making money, but not yet famous. Visa will measure the program’s success by how much creators use the tools and how well it helps them manage their cash flow.

The move comes as the creator economy continues to expand and grab attention and revenue from traditional media. Ad giant WPP forecast that creators would earn $185 billion in 2025, up 20% from 2024.

“We are firm believers that the composition of the pie is changing, meaning creators are a new segment that has emerged over the last few years,” said Jonathan Kolozsvary, global head of small business at Visa.

Other financial companies have also been catering to creators. In February, Mastercard announced its Business Builder debit and credit card products, which are pitched to creators. That program offers tools to reduce creators’ personal liability for their online content, lower their tax burden, and simplify their business management, among other things.

New research reveals creators’ business needs

Visa enlisted TikTok’s top star, Khaby Lame, to help promote its creator initiatives. The new program builds on Visa’s 2024 move to classify creators as small businesses, which enabled them to take advantage of certain financial tools.

Visa is launching the program in tandem with a new research report titled “Monetized,” which shows that creators are growing more optimistic about their earning potential and are increasingly viewing it as a career path, with 88% expecting their revenue to increase over the next year.

Conducted in partnership with TikTok and Morning Consult, the report surveyed over 1,000 creators from May to August across the United States, Brazil, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates.

Nearly half of the content creators in the report said they were self-taught in most business areas. The top areas they said they wanted help in — all cited by about a fourth of respondents — were contract negotiation, business strategy, financial management, and tax/legal compliance.

Kolozsvary said that creator pain points are similar to those of small businesses in general, including managing cash flow and accessing capital.

He said that one difference for creators is that when they “turn that passion to profit, they don’t know what tax implications look like now that they’re a business, and not just a consumer.”