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Elon Musk said his startup xAI will release its Grok 3 chatbot on Monday and billed it as the “smartest AI on Earth” in a fiercely competitive market.The company’s flagship artificial intelligence product will go live with a demonstration on Monday night at 8:00 pm Pacific time (0400 GMT), the tech billionaire wrote Saturday on his social media platform X.Grok 3 was trained on synthetic data and is capable of reflecting on errors it makes by going over data in order to reach logical consistency.”Will be honing product with the team all weekend, so offline until then,” said Musk, the world’s richest person and a top advisor to President Donald Trump who is tasked with slashing government spending.Musk said last week that Grok 3 was in the final stages of development and would be released to the world in a matter of weeks.xAI is seeking a competitive edge in a market teeming with products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT as artificial intelligence spreads through contemporary life.Chinese startup DeepSeek shocked the global AI industry last month with the launch of its low-cost, high-quality chatbot — a challenge to US ambitions to lead the world in developing the technology.DeepSeek quickly overtook ChatGPT in downloads on the Apple app store.Musk has repeatedly warned that AI poses a risk to human civilization, but he is nonetheless pushing hard for a bigger slice of investment in the sector.xAI said in December it raised $6 billion in its latest funding round from investors that included US venture capitalists, chipmakers Nvidia and AMD, and investment funds from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, among others. It raised an initial $6 billion in May.The company is now one of the world’s most valuable startups, though still dwarfed by OpenAI.Musk, who also acts as boss of SpaceX and Tesla, launched the AI company in July 2023 shortly after he signed an open letter calling for a pause in the development of powerful AI models.OpenAI’s board chairman on Friday said it has unanimously rejected a Musk-led offer to buy the company for $97.4 billion.

A flood of presidential trade policy announcements has kept US automakers on edge since Donald Trump returned to the White House last month.While some signature threats –- like 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada — have been wielded and then paused, Trump’s multipronged assault on the international trade order is building up incremental cost pressures, according to auto industry experts.An additional 10 percent tariff on imports from China — a major auto parts supplier — has already been imposed, and a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports that takes effect March 12 is likely to add another layer to supply and manufacturing costs.”It’s like, a little here, a little there,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said this week. “They won’t be small together.”And there has been no letup in the stream of trade directives emanating from the Oval Office.On Thursday, when Trump signed plans for sweeping “reciprocal tariffs” with trading partners, he highlighted an imbalance between US and European Union levies on car imports as a prime example of what he was targeting.And the following day, the president said he planned to unveil tariffs on foreign cars in early April, though he did not specify how large the levies would be or which countries would be initially earmarked.If the paused Mexico and Canada tariffs are eventually imposed, Farley said they would “blow a hole” in the US auto industry, which has been integrated with its neighbors since the 1990s North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).”Most folks recognize the threat, but they don’t believe he’s going to drop the bomb,” said Cox Automotive economist Charlie Chesbrough.Besides the Detroit giants, foreign automakers also have extensive investments in Mexico and Canada. Honda has factories in the United States, Canada and Mexico and none of the cars it sold in the US market in 2024 were imported from Japan, according to figures from the consultancy GlobalData.- New US investment? -Trump administration officials have characterized tariffs as a potential revenue source as well as an incentive for global companies to add manufacturing capacity in the United States.Trump has placed tariffs at the center of his “America First” approach, describing the levies as a way to right past “unfair” treatment from trade allies. A White House fact sheet released Thursday pointed out that the European Union imposes a 10 percent tariff on imported cars, while the United States levy stands at 2.5 percent.Within the EU, German automakers are the biggest source of direct US car imports from Europe. This group includes luxury brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi that either have or are part of companies that also operate manufacturing facilities in the United States.Placating the Trump administration on the EU auto tariff could be relatively painless for Brussels, said Jeff Schuster, vice president of global research at GlobalData.”US vehicles, especially the vehicles that are popular here, would not be popular in Europe,” said Schuster, who expects eliminating the EU tariff would have little impact.Auto analysts believe foreign automakers may in the coming months unveil plans to expand or build new factories in the United States. However, they face a dilemma about what kind of vehicles to manufacture due to the shifting winds of US politics.At the same time the Trump administration is pursuing a shake-up to international trade, it is signaling a reversal on efforts to boost electric vehicle capacity, placing the United States out of step with Europe, China and other major markets.The long lead-time in the auto industry means the cars resulting from current investment decisions may not hit the market for four or five years.As global companies, “it’s not efficient to have different strategies in every market,” Schuster said.

He courted young, angry men during his presidential campaign. Now Donald Trump is back in the White House, where he and his acolytes are applying what they see as a decidedly masculine stamp on all they do.Seeking a return to traditional gender norms, the new administration is making a big show of centering men — from Elon Musk declaring that “testosterone rocks!” to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth doing push-ups to redefining government acronyms from a male perspective.And the push goes well beyond the performative, with the fist-pumping Trump moving to sign executive orders eroding healthcare access for transgender people and declaring the country will recognize only two genders — men and women — in his first days in office.Musk, Trump’s top donor and most powerful ally, whom the president has tapped to lead government cuts and, specifically, to slash programs targeting racism and inequality, has repeatedly been at the vanguard of the push to make America manly again. The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX boss on Wednesday warned of what he said were risks facing men from policies that seek to combat discrimination. In a videoconference, he offered the bizarre-sounding suggestion that an artificial intelligence-based program designed to promote “diversity at all costs” could even “decide that there were too many men in power and execute them. So problem solved.”The world’s richest person, Musk also posted a message on his X platform saying “Testosterone rocks.”New Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, who has criticized the presence of women in combat roles and vowed to bring “warrior culture” back, on Friday shared photos of himself jogging and exercising with US troops on a snowy path in Poland.  Hegseth, a military veteran, said he had done five series of 47 pushups — a reference to Trump as the 47th American president.The Trump administration has even imposed a male-centric stamp on some government acronyms.A warning system for pilots known as NOTAM, for “Notice to Air Missions” has been changed officially to the “Notice to Airmen.” – ‘Nostalgic patriarchy’ -There is a method to all this maleness, experts say.”The emphasis on a rigid gender binary is an outgrowth of a nostalgic patriarchy that wants to return to a mid-20th century understanding of gender relations, with white, heterosexual men at the pinnacle of a hierarchical identity pyramid,” said Karrin Anderson, a communications professor at Colorado State University.Trump, of course, is at the heart of the movement.Shortly after his return to power on January 20, the president ordered an end to passports with a gender-neutral “X” option and moved to restrict gender transition procedures for people under the age of 19. The 78-year-old billionaire, who has promised to “protect” women “whether the women like it or not,” also signed an order banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports events. At the signing event, he surrounded himself with women and young girls.His administration even went so far as to scrub all references to transgender and queer people from the National Park Service-administered website for a monument to the 1969 Stonewall riots, a foundational moment in the struggle for LGBTQ rights. The approach can take on a religious hue, with Trump not averse to presenting himself as a providential emissary from God. Newly confirmed health minister Robert F. Kennedy Jr. compared the president on Thursday to “a man on a white horse” arriving at a gallop to save America.- ‘Healthy masculinity’ -“The revitalization of American masculinity is our nation’s most pressing need,” Jim Daly of the conservative evangelical group Focus on the Family said last month.Writing in the Washington Examiner, he said that Trump, like conservative US president Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, was promoting what he called “healthy masculinity.”  With Reagan’s portrait hanging in the Oval Office, it has been under the gaze of the former Western movie actor that Trump deploys his thick black marker to sign orders that, Anderson says, confirm his muscular approach to power.”By bypassing Congress and flouting Constitutional checks and balances,” she said, “Trump demonstrates his might by exercising masculinized, autocratic authority rather than engaging in collaborative, democratic decision-making.”Trump 2.0 is not entirely an old boys club, however.While the Republican president has named a male-dominated cabinet, he has brought in more women than during his first term, some in strategic positions.His new chief of staff Susie Wiles — whom Trump calls “the ice maiden” for her coolness under fire — is the first woman in that influential post.

European leaders on Saturday scrambled to force their way to the table for any talks on the Ukraine war, as Washington announced a team of senior US officials was planning to meet in Saudi Arabia with counterparts from Moscow and Kyiv.US President Donald Trump upended the status quo this week when he announced he was likely to soon meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin to start talks to end the conflict, leaving US allies in Europe concerned their interests would be sidelined.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will head to Saudi Arabia for ceasefire talks with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, US officials said Saturday, without giving details on when the meeting would happen.Rubio had already been due to visit Saudi Arabia as part his first tour of the Middle East, which began Saturday when he arrived in Israel, an AFP journalist reported.The top US diplomat also had a call Saturday with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, in which he “reaffirmed President Trump’s commitment to finding an end to the conflict in Ukraine,” spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement.In Munich, NATO chief Mark Rutte said Europe had to come up with “good proposals” for securing peace in Ukraine if it wanted to be involved in US-led talks.”If Europeans want to have a say, make yourself relevant,” Rutte told journalists at a gathering of top policymakers.Rutte also said he would head to Paris on Monday to take part in an expected meeting of European leaders convened by French President Emmanuel Macron.A spokesman for Macron’s office told AFP “discussions” were ongoing over a “possible informal meeting”.UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday that Europe “must take on a greater role in NATO” and work with the United States to “secure Ukraine’s future”.As part of any eventual “security guarantees” for Ukraine, talks have begun in Europe over a potential deployment of peacekeepers. But those discussions are at an embryonic stage — and others argue the focus needs to be on building up Ukraine’s own forces. – Europe has ‘input’ -Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the creation of a European army, arguing the continent could no longer count on Washington.”We can’t rule out the possibility that America might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it,” Zelensky said. “I really believe that time has come. The Armed Forces of Europe must be created.”The push for a joint continental force has been mooted for years without gaining traction and Zelensky’s intervention seems unlikely to shift the balance.Zelensky’s rallying cry came a day after he met US Vice-President JD Vance and as Kyiv tries to ensure it is not sidelined by Trump’s engagement with Putin. “Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement,” Zelensky said in a speech. “No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine. No decisions about Europe without Europe.”But Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, gave Europeans reasons to doubt they would be heard.Europe would not be directly involved in talks but would still have an “input”, Kellogg said in Munich.- ‘Lasting peace’ -US officials have sought to assure Ukraine that it will not be left in the cold after three years of battling Russia’s invasion. Vance said after his sit-down with Zelensky that the United States was looking for a “durable, lasting peace” that would not lead to further bloodshed in coming years.But Washington has sent mixed messages to Kyiv, with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth appearing to rule out Ukraine joining NATO or retaking all of its territory.Trump has also pushed for access to Ukraine’s stocks of rare earth minerals as compensation for the military aid provided by the United States.Zelensky said Saturday he blocked a deal that would have given the US access to vast amounts of Ukrainian natural resources as it lacked “security guarantees” for Kyiv.”In my opinion, it does not protect us… our interests,” Zelensky told journalists.The situation for his forces on the ground has continued to deteriorate. Despite suffering heavy battlefield losses, the Russian army has been creeping forward in eastern Ukraine for more than a year.Outside the Munich conference, several hundred pro-Ukrainian demonstrators voiced fears about what may come from talks. “It’s terrifying,” said Ukraine-born protester Nataliya Galushka, 40, who left the country when she was a child.”The fact that (Trump is) talking to Putin, a criminal, what kind of world is this?”

European leaders on Saturday scrambled to force their way to the table at any talks on the Ukraine war after US President Donald Trump moved to engage with Russia directly, increasing fears that Europe can no longer rely on Washington’s backing for defence.Trump upended the status quo this week when he announced he was likely to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin soon to start talks to end the conflict. The possibility of direct US-Russia talks left US allies in Europe reeling and worried that their interests would be sidelined in any deal on Ukraine. NATO chief Mark Rutte said Europe had to come up with “good proposals” for securing peace in Ukraine if it wanted to be involved in US-led talks.”If Europeans want to have a say, make yourself relevant,” Rutte told journalists at a gathering of top policymakers in Munich.Rutte also said he would head to Paris on Monday to take part in a meeting of European leaders convened by French President Emmanuel Macron.The gathering would focus on defence spending and planning so that “when a deal is reached in Ukraine, that we have absolute clarity what Europe can contribute,” he said.A spokesman for Macron’s office told AFP “discussions” were ongoing over a “possible informal meeting”, without giving a date or an indication of the attendees.As part of any eventual “security guarantees” for Ukraine, discussions have begun in Europe over a potential deployment of peacekeepers. But those talks are only at an embryonic stage — and others argue the focus now needs to be on building up Ukraine’s own forces. – Europe has ‘input’ -Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the creation of a European army, arguing the continent could no longer count on Washington.”Let’s be honest –- now we can’t rule out the possibility that America might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it,” Zelensky said. “I really believe that time has come. The Armed Forces of Europe must be created.”The push for a joint continental force has been mooted for years without gaining traction and Zelensky’s intervention seems unlikely to shift the balance.Zelensky’s rallying cry came a day after he met US Vice President JD Vance as Kyiv scrambles to ensure it is not sidelined in Washington’s push to wrap up the conflict. “Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement,” Zelensky said in a speech. “No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine. No decisions about Europe without Europe.”European leaders backed up Zelensky’s call to action and echoed the need for the continent to play a key role in talks.Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X “Europe urgently needs its own plan of action concerning Ukraine and our security”. Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg however gave Europeans reasons to doubt they would be heard in any negotiations.Europe would not be directly involved in the talks but would still have an “input”, Kellogg said in Munich.- ‘Lasting peace’ -US officials have sought to assure Ukraine that it will not be left in the cold after three years of battling Russia’s invasion. Vance said after his sit-down with Zelensky that the United States was looking for a “durable, lasting peace” that would not lead to further bloodshed in coming years.But Washington has sent mixed messages to Kyiv, with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth appearing to rule out Ukraine joining NATO or retaking all of its territory.Trump has also pushed for access to Ukraine’s stocks of rare earth minerals as compensation for the military aid provided by the United States.Zelensky said Saturday he blocked a deal that would have given the US access to vast amounts of Ukrainian natural resources as it lacked “security guarantees” for Kyiv.”In my opinion, it does not protect us. It is not ready to protect us, our interests,” Zelensky told journalists on the sidelines of the Munich conference.The situation for his forces on the ground, though, has continued to deteriorate. Russia’s army on Saturday claimed to have captured a village in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region close to a road linking key towns as Moscow slowly eats up territory.Despite suffering heavy battlefield losses, the Russian army has been creeping forwards in eastern Ukraine for more than a year.Outside the Munich conference, several hundred pro-Ukrainian demonstrators voiced fears about what may come from talks. “It’s terrifying,” said Ukraine-born protester Nataliya Galushka, 40, who left the country when she was a child.”The fact that (Trump is) talking to Putin, a criminal, what kind of world is this?”

Donald Trump has mocked what he said were media depictions of Elon Musk as the real power in the White House, saying attempts to drive a wedge between himself and the tech billionaire have failed.”They do it all the time,” the US president says in excerpts posted Saturday from a Fox News interview to be aired Tuesday. Speaking as if in a news anchor’s voice, Trump went on, “We have breaking news: Donald Trump has ceded control of the presidency to Elon Musk. President Musk will be attending a cabinet meeting tonight…”The Republican president is famously prickly about being outshone by anyone in his entourage, and there has been widespread speculation that Musk’s high profile could lead to his downfall.The South African-born Musk, while nominally just the head of a new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), has taken on extraordinarily broad powers in identifying what he says are areas of waste and then moving quickly to cut jobs and spending.Those moves by the world’s wealthiest person have drawn jibes in the press, including a Time magazine cover showing Musk sitting behind the president’s iconic Resolute Desk, and a New Yorker cover showing both Trump and Musk, hands on a Bible, together taking the presidential oath of office.Trump so far has been publicly supportive of Musk’s work, which the president says is vitally important at a time of soaring budget deficits. In the Fox interview, Trump said he and Musk had discussed the media mockery. “Actually, Elon called me,” the president said. “He said, ‘You know, they’re trying to drive us apart.’ I said, ‘Absolutely.'”Trump added that Americans understood what the media allegedly were up to.”I used to think they were good at it,” Trump said. “They’re actually bad at it, because if they were good at it, I’d never be president.””The people are smart,” he went on. “They get it.”Amid all the criticism, Musk has continued to draw an intense media focus, including in an Oval Office appearance in which a casually dressed Musk brought his four-year-old son and spoke at greater length than the president. Democrats have seized on the at times awkward dynamic, and opinion polls show negative views of the Tesla and SpaceX boss clearly outpacing positive ones.But Trump, meantime, is enjoying some of his highest approval ratings ever.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Saturday for the creation of a European army, as he insisted Kyiv and its backers on the continent must be listened to in peace talks with Russia. Speaking at a gathering of top policymakers in Munich, the Ukrainian leader said that with the return of President Donald Trump to the White House Europe could no longer count on Washington to always have its back.Trump stunned allies and upended the status quo of US support for Ukraine this week when he announced he would likely soon meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin to start truce talks.Zelensky’s rallying cry came a day after he met US Vice President JD Vance as Kyiv scrambles to ensure it is not sidelined in Washington’s push to wrap up the three-year war. “Let’s be honest –- now we can’t rule out the possibility that America might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it,” Zelensky said. “I really believe that time has come. The Armed Forces of Europe must be created.”The push for a joint continental force has been mooted for years without gaining traction and Zelensky’s intervention seems unlikely to shift the balance. In the short-term, the priority for Kyiv remains ensuring its voice is heard at any peace talks involving Russia and that it doesn’t get a bad deal. “Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement,” Zelensky said in a speech. “No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine. No decisions about Europe without Europe.”Zelensky cautioned Putin would seek to use Trump as a “prop in his own performance”, possibly by trying to get him to Moscow for Russia’s WWII victory parade in May.Zelensky is pushing for “security guarantees” from both the United States and Europe to ensure that any peace deal does not allow Moscow just to restart the war later.”Putin cannot offer real security guarantees, not just because he is a liar but because Russia in its current state needs war to hold power together,” he said. The Ukrainian leader said forceful sanctions on Russia and building up Ukraine’s military could help secure peace, and said he was “open” to eventually having European peacekeepers.- ‘No time to lose’ -European leaders backed up Zelensky’s call to action and for their continent to play a key role. “There will only be peace if Ukraine’s sovereignty is secured,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the Munich Security Conference.Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pressed Europe to establish its own stances on Ukraine and security as the United States sows doubts about its commitment to Europe.”Europe urgently needs its own plan of action concerning Ukraine and our security, or else other global players will decide about our future,” Tusk said. “This plan must be prepared now. There’s no time to lose.”NATO boss Mark Rutte said that leaders in Europe were “now getting into the concrete planning phase” of possible security guarantees. US officials have said that Ukraine will not be left in the cold after three years of battling Russia’s invasion. Vance said after his sit-down with Zelensky that Washington was looking for a “durable, lasting peace” that would not lead to further bloodshed in coming years.- Rare earths deal? -But US officials have sent mixed messages over Washington’s strategy after Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth appeared to rule out Ukraine joining NATO or retaking all of its territory. That has sparked major worries in Kyiv and Europe that Ukraine could be forced into a bad deal that leaves the continent facing an emboldened Putin. In a bid to keep Washington close, Kyiv has held talks over granting access to its rare earths mineral deposits in return for future US security support.Zelensky said the negotiations were ongoing after his meeting with Vance. While Zelensky engages in his diplomatic push, on the ground in Ukraine the situation for his forces continued to deteriorate. Russia’s army on Saturday claimed to have captured a village in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region close to a road linking key towns as Moscow slowly eats up territory.Despite suffering heavy battlefield losses, the Russian army has been creeping forwards in eastern Ukraine for more than a year as it looks to cut off access to Pokrovsk.The advances came after a Russian drone struck a cover built to contain radiation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, with radiation levels remaining normal.”A country that launches such attacks does not want peace. Not. They don’t want it,” Zelensky said.”It is not preparing for dialogue.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday warned the United States not to strike a deal with Russia “behind our backs”, as he urged Europe to stand up and make its voice heard.Speaking at a gathering of top policymakers in Munich, the Ukrainian leader issued a rallying cry for Europe to take responsibility for its own security — including by eventually forming a continental army.The plea from Zelensky came a day after he met US Vice President JD Vance as Kyiv scrambles to ensure it is not sidelined in Washington’s push to wrap up the three-year war.”Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement,” Zelensky said in a keynote speech. “No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine. No decisions about Europe without Europe.”US President Donald Trump stunned allies and upended the status quo of US support for Ukraine this week when he announced he would likely soon meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin to start truce talks. Zelensky cautioned Putin would seek to use Trump as a “prop in his own performance” — possibly by trying to get him to Moscow for Russia’s WWII victory parade in May. Kyiv has urged Washington to come up with a “common plan” to confront Russia but Zelensky suggested there was not yet a joint stance after his meeting with Vance.Zelensky is pushing for “security guarantees” from both the United States and Europe to ensure that any peace deal does not allow Moscow just to restart the war later.”Putin cannot offer real security guarantees, not just because he is a liar but because Russia in its current state needs war to hold power together,” he said. The Ukrainian leader said forceful sanctions on Russia and building up Ukraine’s military could help secure peace, and said he was “open” to eventually having European peacekeepers.- ‘No time to lose’ -European leaders backed up Zelensky’s call to action — and for their continent to play a key role. “There will only be peace if Ukraine’s sovereignty is secured,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the Munich Security Conference.Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pressed Europe to establish its own stances on Ukraine and security as the United States sows doubts about its commitment to Europe.”Europe urgently needs its own plan of action concerning Ukraine and our security, or else other global players will decide about our future,” Tusk said. “This plan must be prepared now. There’s no time to lose.”NATO boss Mark Rutte said that leaders in Europe were “now getting into the concrete planning phase” of possible security guarantees. US officials have said that Ukraine will not be left in the cold after three years of battling Russia’s invasion. Vance said after his sit-down with Zelensky that Washington was looking for a “durable, lasting peace” that would not lead to further bloodshed in coming years.- Rare earths deal? -But US officials have sent mixed messages over Washington’s strategy after Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth appeared to rule out Ukraine joining NATO or retaking all of its territory. That has sparked major worries in Kyiv and Europe that Ukraine could be forced into a bad deal that leaves the continent facing an emboldened Putin. In a bid to keep Washington close, Kyiv has held talks over granting access to its rare earths mineral deposits in return for future US security support.Zelensky said the negotiations were ongoing after his meeting with Vance. While Zelensky engages in his diplomatic push, on the ground in Ukraine the situation for his forces continued to deteriorate. Russia’s army on Saturday claimed to have captured a village in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region close to a road linking key towns as Moscow slowly eats up territory.Despite suffering heavy battlefield losses, the Russian army has been creeping forwards in eastern Ukraine for more than a year as it looks to cut off access to Pokrovsk.The advances came after a Russian drone struck a cover built to contain radiation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, with radiation levels remaining normal.”A country that launches such attacks does not want peace. Not. They don’t want it,” Zelensky said.”It is not preparing for dialogue.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he sought “security guarantees” as he met with the US vice president on Friday to discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to broker a truce deal with Moscow.Zelensky’s sitdown with JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference comes as Kyiv scrambles to ensure it is not sidelined in Washington’s push to wrap up the three-year war.President Donald Trump stunned allies and upended the status quo of US support for Ukraine this week when he announced he would likely soon meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin to start truce talks. Speaking with reporters in Munich, Zelensky stressed the need to “speak more” with the White House before any endgame to the war is formulated.”We want peace very much but we need real security guarantees,” he said after his first meeting with Vance.Zelensky’s anxiety was also on display in a preview of his interview with US media outlet NBC, saying Ukraine “will have low, low chance to survive without support of the United States”. Vance meanwhile described “good conversations” with Zelensky, and acknowledged the administration’s goal of bringing the war to a close.”We want to achieve a durable, lasting peace, not the kind of peace that’s going to have Eastern Europe in conflict just a couple years down the road,” Vance said as the meeting wrapped up.Zelensky later wrote on X that an envoy from Washington would visit Kyiv.”We are ready to move as quickly as possible towards a real and guaranteed peace,” he wrote.The Ukrainian leader has acknowledged that it was “not very pleasant” that his own phone call with Trump this week came after Putin’s 90-minute call.US officials have insisted that Ukraine will be not be left in the cold after three years of battling Russia’s invasion. Vance said ahead of the Munich meeting that the United States was prepared to pressure Russia, adding that Europe should “of course” be at the table. But he also told Europe to “step up” bolstering its own defence to allow Washington to focus on threats elsewhere in the world. – Trump’s phone number -US officials have sent mixed messages over Washington’s strategy after Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth appeared to rule out Ukraine joining NATO or retaking all of its territory. That has sparked major worries in Kyiv and Europe that Ukraine could be forced into a bad deal that leaves the continent facing an emboldened Putin. But Vance told the Wall Street Journal that Trump would put everything “on the table” in potential talks, and that Washington could even use “military leverage” against Russia to force a deal. He did not give more away in a keenly awaited keynote speech, which mostly focused on scolding Europe over immigration and free speech. Saudi Arabia, after being named by Trump as a likely venue for a meeting with Putin, said it would welcome holding any talks between the two leaders.Zelensky appeared to address fears that Trump was cutting out Kyiv by saying the US president had given him his personal number when they spoke.European allies, who along with Washington are Ukraine’s strongest backers, demanded they also be included in negotiations that will impact their continent’s security. French President Emmanuel Macron said he assured Zelensky that it is “Ukrainians alone who can drive the discussions for a solid and lasting peace” with Russia.Zelensky said he had discussed with Macron “many important issues, including security guarantees and specific proposals from France”.In a bid to keep Washington close, Kyiv has held talks over granting access to its rare mineral deposits in return for future US security support.EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned that forcing Ukraine into a bad deal would harm US interests. “I believe that by working together, we can deliver that just and lasting peace,” she said. – Chernobyl strike -While Europe nervously monitors the US stance on Ukraine, there is little ambiguity on Trump’s determination to get Europe to spend more on its defence. Fears that Vance could announce a major US troop reduction in Europe did not materialise, but he repeated warnings that Washington needed to focus more on other parts of the globe. On the sidelines of the conference, Vance also met with leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel, according to German press.It comes as Vance criticised Germany for blocking the far right from possibly sharing power in upcoming elections.The conservative candidate and poll favourite Friedrich Merz insists he would not govern with the AfD or actively seek its support.Amid the diplomatic flurry in Munich, Zelensky said that back on the ground in Ukraine a Russian drone had struck a cover built to contain radiation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, though he added that radiation levels were normal.The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 133 drones across the country overnight, including attack drones, targeting northern regions of the country where the Chernobyl plant lies.Zelensky said the attack was evidence that “Putin is definitely not preparing for negotiations — he is preparing to continue deceiving the world”.

OpenAI’s board chairman on Friday said it has unanimously rejected an Elon Musk-led offer to buy the hot artificial intelligence company for $97.4 billion.”OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition,” chairman of the board Bret Taylor said in a statement posted by the company on Musk-owned X, formerly Twitter.”Any potential reorganization of OpenAI will strengthen our nonprofit and its mission to ensure AGI (artificial general intelligence) benefits all of humanity,” the statement continued.Musk filed court documents on Wednesday saying that he would withdraw the offer to buy OpenAI if its board returns the artificial intelligence pioneer to a non-profit “charity” model.OpenAI currently operates a hybrid structure, as a non-profit with a money-making subsidiary.The change to a for-profit model — one that Altman considers crucial for the company’s development — had exacerbated ongoing tensions with Musk.Musk and Altman were among the 11-person team that founded OpenAI in 2015, with the former providing initial funding of $45 million. Three years later, Musk departed the company, with OpenAI citing “a potential future conflict for Elon… as Tesla continues to become more focused on AI.”Musk established his own artificial intelligence company called xAI early in 2023 after OpenAI ignited global fervor over the technology.The massive costs of designing, training, and deploying AI models have compelled OpenAI to seek a new corporate structure that would give investors equity and provide more stable governance.The transition to a traditional for-profit company requires approval from California and Delaware authorities, who will scrutinize how the non-profit arm of OpenAI is valued when it becomes a shareholder in the new company.Current investors prefer a lower valuation to maximize their share of the new company. Musk’s bid, valuing the OpenAI non-profit at $97.4 billion — approximately $30 billion above the level in current negotiations, according to The Information — appears designed to disrupt the company’s fundraising efforts.OpenAI’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane has said Musk’s offer came from a competitor “who has struggled to keep up with the technology and compete with us in the marketplace”.