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• Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is planning to run for president in 2024.
• That would pit her against former President Donald Trump, whom she previously said she’d back.
• The GOP star served six terms in state office before becoming the ambassador to the UN.

Nikki Haley plans to announce a 2024 presidential run on February 15, a spokesperson confirmed to Insider.Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) speaks during a campaign event for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin (L) (R-VA) July 14, 2021 in McLean, Virginia. Youngkin is running against former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

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Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley plans to run for president in 2024 and is set to announce her bid on February 15 in Charleston, reported The Post and Courier.

Her communications director told Insider’s Cheryl Teh on Tuesday evening that The Post and Courier’s reporting is “accurate.”

Haley’s coming announcement would make her the second Republican to declare their bid for the White House, after former President Donald Trump announced his run in November.

It would also come after Haley said in 2021 that she would back Trump again and wouldn’t challenge her former boss in a 2024 race.

But Haley has been hinting at a presidential run in recent weeks, saying she could potentially be America’s new leader while speaking in a January interview on Fox News.

“Yes, we need to go in a new direction,” Haley said. “And can I be that leader? Yes. I think I can be that leader.”

On the other hand, Trump has said “it would be very disloyal” if Haley, who served as the US ambassador to the UN under him, ran against him.

A representative for Haley did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment for this story.

Haley started her career in commerce and accounting before she moved into politics.Rep. Nikki Haley with her family after winning the GOP vote in the gubernatorial primary for South Carolina, on Tuesday, June 8, 2010.

Rich Glickstein/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Haley was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa in 1972 in Bamberg, South Carolina, to two immigrants from Punjab, India.

Her father, a professor at Punjab Agricultural University, and her mother, who earned a law degree in India, moved to South Carolina in 1969, where they both had extensive teaching careers at local institutions.

Haley’s mother also started a gift and clothing boutique, Exotica International, in 1979, per South Carolina daily The Times and Democrat. 

When she was 13, Haley started helping with accounting at Exotica, and later returned to the company as chief financial officer after she graduated from Clemson University, per the Seattle Times. 

From 1998 to 2004, Haley was named as a board member of the chambers of commerce in Orangeburg County and Lexington, as well as the president of the National Association of Women Business Owners.

Haley is married to National Guardsman Michael Haley, who served as an officer in Afghanistan. They have a daughter, Rena, and a son, Nalin.

In 2004, she was elected to South Carolina’s House of Representatives, where she served three terms.Nikki Haley as South Carolina State Representative for the state’s 87th district in 2009.

Tim Dominick/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Haley came in second in the primaries when she initially ran for South Carolina’s House of Representatives in 2004, but won in a runoff after her incumbent opponent, Larry Koon, couldn’t secure a majority. She ran uncontested in the general election afterward.

During her first term, Haley was elected as the chair of the freshman caucus and later became majority whip in the state’s general assembly.

Serving three terms in total, she pushed to lower taxes and education reform, according to her voting history.

Haley made history as South Carolina’s first female governor in 2011.South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, surrounded by three former governors, some family members of the slain nine and many legislators, signs the bill to remove the Confederate flag.

Tim Dominick/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Haley was elected the governor of South Carolina in 2010 with endorsements from former presidential candidate Sen. Mitt Romney and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

At 32, she was the youngest governor in the country when she took office in January 2011, and made history as South Carolina’s first female governor. She was also the state’s first Asian-American governor, and would go on to serve three terms in total.

As governor, Haley pledged to crack down on illegal immigration in South Carolina, signing a bill that required police to check the immigration status of anyone they stop and suspect of being in the US illegally.

She also signed a state law in 2016 banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Haley made national headlines in 2015 after she visibly choked up in her response to the Charleston shooting, in which nine African Americans at a Bible study were shot dead by a white supremacist.

The then-governor called for the confederate flag to be removed from state capitol grounds.

“This flag, while an integral part of our past, does not represent the future of our great state,” she said at the time, signing a law to remove the battle flag shortly after.

As the Black Lives Matter movement grew in 2015, Haley also spoke out against what she said was a “shameful” image problem with minority voters in the GOP. “The problem for our party is that our approach often appears cold and unwelcoming to minorities,” she said.

Haley later was criticized for saying in 2019 that the confederate flag was seen in South Carolina as a symbol of “service, sacrifice, and heritage,” and that the Charleston shooter had hijacked its meaning. She tweeted at the time that her comment had been mischaracterized.

She was appointed as the US ambassador to the United Nations by Trump in 2016.Nikki Haley, Permanent Representative of the United States to the UN during a Security Council Meeting.

Luiz Rampelotto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

In January 2017, then-President Donald Trump nominated Haley to become the US ambassador to the United Nations. 

CNN reported that Haley had originally been considered for Secretary of State, but that she declined Trump’s offer, telling him he could “find someone better.”

As the ambassador to the UN, Haley kept in line with Trump’s pro-Israel stance, backing his bid to withhold food aid to Palestine in 2018 and warning other countries not to condemn his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

She was also tough on North Korea and Russia, playing a vocal role in UN sanctions against Kim Jong Un’s regime and later accusing Moscow of covering up violations of those sanctions.

Haley stepped down as ambassador four weeks before the 2018 November midterms, surprising some White House officials, CNN reported.

However, Trump said Haley had informed him six months earlier of her intention to “take a break” and resign. He praised Haley in his remarks, saying she “has been very special to me” and lauding her as “somebody that gets it.”

Haley’s political relationship with Trump has historically been tumultuous at best.US President Donald Trump announces that he has accepted the resignation of Nikki Haley as US Ambassador to the United Nations, in the Oval Office on October 9, 2018 in Washington, DC. President Trump said that Haley will leave her post by the end of the year.

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Haley’s history with Trump, however, has not been so smooth.

When she endorsed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in 2016 against then-GOP frontrunner Trump for the White House, he tweeted that the people of South Carolina were “embarrassed” by her.

“Bless your heart,” she tweeted in response.

Haley slammed Trump at a Rubio campaign event, saying she would “not stop until we fight a man that chooses not to disavow the KKK.”

“That is not a part of our party, that’s not who we want as president, we will not allow that in our country,” she said then.

When Rubio dropped out of the race, Haley voiced support for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. After  Trump later won the GOP nomination, she said she would vote for him, but that she was “not a fan.”

While she initially criticized Trump’s 2015 proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US, calling it “unconstitutional” and “just wrong,” Haley in 2017 defended his decision to block travelers from six Muslim-majority countries for 90 days, saying it wasn’t an outright Muslim ban.

“What the president is doing, everybody needs to realize that what he’s doing is saying: ‘Let’s take a step back. Let’s temporarily pause,'” she said.

After the January 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol, Haley said she felt Trump had “let us down.”

“He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. And we can’t let that ever happen again,” she told Politico.

In particular, she vehemently disapproved of how Trump failed to protect his former vice president, Mike Pence, telling Politico she was “so triggered” by his words against Pence that she had to turn off her TV.

“When I tell you I’m angry, it’s an understatement,” said, per the outlet.

A month after the riots, Haley wrote in an opinion article for the Wall Street Journal that she believed Trump’s policies made the US “stronger, safer, and more prosperous,” but that she still judged him for his actions after the election.

Meanwhile, Trump has appeared less perturbed by rumors of Haley’s 2024 run than he has by the looming threat of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ bid. DeSantis has not declared his run yet, but he has hinted that he might.

Trump said Haley had called him to discuss her potential run, and said she “should do it,” per CNN.

“I talked to her for a little while, I said: ‘Look, you know, go by your heart if you want to run,'” he said.

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Australian authorities on Wednesday found a radioactive capsule that was lost in the vast Outback after nearly a week-long search along a 1,400 km (870-mile) stretch of highway, an emergency services official said.

The military was verifying the capsule and it would be taken to a secure facility in the city of Perth on Thursday, Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said in a news conference.

“When you consider the scope of the research area, locating this object was a monumental challenge, the search groups have quite literally found the needle in the haystack,” Dawson said.

The radioactive capsule was part of a gauge used to measure the density of iron ore feed from Rio Tinto’s (RIO.AX) Gudai-Darri mine in the state’s remote Kimberley region. The ore was being taken to a facility in the suburbs of Perth – a distance longer than the length of Great Britain.

Officials from Western Australia’s emergency response department, defence authorities, radiation specialists and others have been combing the a stretch of highway for the tiny capsule that was lost in transit more than two weeks ago. read more

Officials said the capsule apparently fell off a truck and landed on the side of the road, adding that it was

unlikely there will be contamination in the area.

The silver capsule, 6 mm in diameter and 8 mm long, contains Caesium-137 which emits radiation equal to 10 X-rays per hour.

People had been told to stay at least five metres (16.5 feet) away from the capsule if they spot it as exposure could cause radiation burns or radiation sickness, though driving past it is believed to be relatively low risk, akin to taking an X-ray.

Protesters marked the two-year anniversary of Myanmar’s military coup with a “silent strike” in major cities and rallies overseas on Wednesday, as exiled civilian leaders vowed to end what they called the army’s “illegal power grab”.

The Southeast Asian country’s top generals led a putsch on February 2021 after five years of tense power-sharing under a quasi-civilian political system created by the military.

The overthrow of the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi derailed a decade of reform, international engagement and economic growth, while leaving a trail of upended lives in its wake.

Myanmar has been in chaos since the coup, with a resistance movement fighting the military on multiple fronts after a bloody crackdown on opponents that saw Western sanctions re-imposed.

A military-backed security council is due to issue a statement on Wednesday that may decide whether to extend a state of emergency, ahead of a promised election this year that critics call a sham aimed at retaining power in the country.

In the main commercial cities of Yangon and Mandalay, images on social media showed deserted streets in what coup opponents said was a silent protest against the junta. Democracy activists had urged people not to go onto the streets between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m..

There was also a rally in Yangon by about 100 supporters of the military, flanked by soldiers, photographs showed.

In Thailand, hundreds of anti-coup protesters held a rally outside Myanmar’s embassy in Bangkok.

“This year is decisive for us to completely uproot the military regime, said Acchariya, a Buddhist monk attending the rally.

Others in the crowd chanted: “We are the people, we have the future” and “The revolution must prevail.”

Activists also staged a protest in the Philippine capital, Manila.

The army-backed National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) met on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Myanmar including the actions of the National Unity Government (NUG), a shadow administration formed by opponents, and the so-called people’s defence force fighting the army, state media reported.

“The unusual circumstances of the country whereby they are making attempts to seize state power in an insurgent and terror-like ways (was discussed),” the military-owned Myawaddy media said on Tuesday.

Myawaddy reported the NDSC planned to release the “necessary statement” on Feb 1, without giving further details.

A telephone call to a military spokesperson seeking comment was not answered.

Myanmar’s military took power after complaining of fraud in a November 2020 general election won by Suu Kyi’s party. Election monitoring groups found no evidence of mass fraud.

The junta, led by Min Aung Hlaing, says its crackdown is a legitimate campaign against “terrorists”.

It declared a state of emergency for a year when it took power and has since extended it twice for six months, with the latest phase expiring on Wednesday.

The constitution allows for two extensions, though some sections appear to give more flexibility on the issue.

The NUG issued a statement of defiance, saying that “together with ethnic allies, who have opposed the military for decades, we will end the military’s illegal power grab.”

The United States and allies including the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada imposed further sanctions on Myanmar on Tuesday, with curbs on energy officials and junta members, among others.

The junta has pledged to hold an election in August this year. State media recently announced tough requirements for parties to contest, a move that critics say could sideline the military’s opponents and cement its grip on politics.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party was decimated by the coup, with thousands of its members arrested or jailed, including Suu Kyi, and many more in hiding.

It has described this year’s planned election as “phoney” and said it would not acknowledge it. The election has also been dismissed as a sham by Western governments.

Some 1.2 million people have been displaced and over 70,000 have left the country, according to the United Nations, which has accused the military of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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Indian tycoon Gautam Adani lost his title of Asia’s richest person on Wednesday as a rout in his conglomerate’s biggest companies deepened to $84 billion in the wake of a short-seller report.

A report by Hindenburg Research last week alleged improper use by the group of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation, as well as concerns about high debt and the valuations of seven listed Adani companies.

It has heightened scrutiny of the conglomerate with an Australian regulator saying on Wednesday that it would be reviewing the allegations to see if further enquiries are warranted.

The Adani Group has denied Hindenburg’s allegations, saying the short-seller’s narrative of stock manipulation has “no basis” and stems from an ignorance of Indian law. It has always made necessary regulatory disclosures, it added.

Wednesday’s stock losses saw Gautam Adani slip to 10th on Forbes rich list with an estimated net worth of $84.1 billion, just below rival Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.NS) who has an estimated $84.4 billion. Before the Hindenburg report, Adani had ranked 3rd.

The worsening rout comes despite the group managing to muster support from investors to haul a share sale for flagship firm Adani Enterprises over the line on Tuesday.

“There was a slight bounce yesterday after the share sale went through, after seeming improbable at a point, but now the weak market sentiment has become visible again after the bombshell Hindenburg report,” said Ambareesh Baliga, a Mumbai-based independent market analyst.

“With the stocks down despite Adani’s rebuttal, it clearly shows some damage on investor sentiment. It will take a while to stabilise,” Baliga added.

Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS), often described as the incubator of Adani businesses, plunged 20% on Wednesday to bring its losses since the Hindenburg report to nearly $15 billion. Adani Power (ADAN.NS) fell 5%, while Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS) slumped 10%, down by its daily price limit.

Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS) was down 6% and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS) dropped 15%.

Adani Total Gas, a joint venture between France’s energy major Total (TTEF.PA) and Adani Group, has been the biggest casualty of the short seller report, losing about $27 billion.

Data also showed that foreign investors sold a net $1.5 billion worth of Indian equities since the Hindenburg report – the biggest outflow over four consecutive days since Sept. 30.

Headaches for the Adani Group are expected to continue for some time.

India’s markets regulator, which has been looking into deals by the conglomerate, has also said it will add Hindenburg’s report to its own preliminary investigation.

State-run Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) (LIFI.NS) on Monday said it would seek clarifications from Adani’s management on the short seller report. The insurance giant was, however, a key investor in the Adani Enterprises share sale.

Hindenburg said in its report it had shorted U.S.-bonds and non-India traded derivatives of the Adani Group.

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EU-Ukraine summit to indicate how much closer the country’s accession has become.

View Pictures/Getty Images

• Google employees are testing potential ChatGPT rivals — like its own AI chatbot called “Apprentice Bard,” per CNBC.
• That’s just weeks after its management reportedly issued a “code red” over the rise of ChatGPT.
• Google is also testing other AI-powered products including a search page.

The competition in artificial intelligence is heating up.

Google employees are testing potential challengers to viral AI chatbot ChatGPT — including its homegrown chatbot “Apprentice Bard” — CNBC reported on Tuesday, citing sources and internal communication seen by the publication.

The bot reportedly uses Google’s own language technology, called LaMDA, or Language Model for Dialogue Applications. 

This is just weeks after the tech giant’s management reportedly issued a “code red” over the rise of ChatGPT, which has been making waves recently as it’s able to generate written human-like text. 

Apprentice Bard appears to work in a way that’s similar to ChatGPT, as users can ask a question in a dialog box and get an answer in response, per CNBC. Users can also give feedback on the bot’s response.

When asked if there would be further layoffs at Google — which let 12,000 workers go in January — Apprentice Bard replied that it was “unlikely” for another round of layoffs in 2023, CNBC reported, citing an internally circulated example.

“Layoffs are generally conducted to reduce costs and structure, but the company is doing well financially. In fact, Google’s revenue increased by 34% in 2021, and the company’s stock price has risen by 70% since January 2022,” Apprentice Bard responded, per the media outlet.

Insider could not independently confirm Apprentice Bard’s data source. Publicly available information show revenues at Alphabet — Google’s parent company — rose 41% in 2021, while Alphabet Class A shares have fallen 32% since January 2022.

Other than the Apprentice Bard, Google is also testing other AI-powered products, including a search page.

Google did not comment specifically on the projects reported by CNBC but told Insider it has “long been focused on developing and deploying AI to improve people’s lives.”

“We believe that AI is foundational and transformative technology that is incredibly useful for individuals, businesses and communities, and as our AI Principles outline, we need to consider the broader societal impacts these innovations can have,” said Lily Lin, a Google spokesperson.