AFP USA

The feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman has become one of the bitterest rivalries in business history, with the Tesla tycoon bidding to buy Altman’s OpenAI in an apparent attempt to derail the ChatGPT maker’s ascent to becoming one of the world’s most important companies.- What sparked the rivalry? -Musk and Altman were among the 11-person team that founded OpenAI in 2015. Created as a counterweight to Google’s dominance in artificial intelligence, the project got its initial funding from Musk, who invested $45 million to get it started.Three years later, Musk departed OpenAI. The company initially cited “a potential future conflict for Elon…as Tesla continues to become more focused on AI,” noting the electric vehicle company’s ambitions in autonomous driving. However, subsequent lawsuits revealed a more contentious story: OpenAI claimed Musk left after his attempts to become CEO or to merge the company with Tesla were rejected.The situation remained relatively quiet until November 2022, when OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT created a global technology sensation — one that didn’t feature Musk at its center and which made Altman a star.Musk quickly began criticizing the company, trolling it on social media for keeping its source code private and signing a widely publicized manifesto calling for a pause in AI development, even as he pursued his own AI projects.The conflict escalated in August 2024 when Musk refiled a lawsuit against OpenAI and its backer Microsoft, claiming the ChatGPT maker had betrayed its founding mission of benefiting the public good in favor of pursuing profits. Musk later updated the lawsuit to prevent OpenAI’s conversion to a for-profit company — a change Altman considers crucial for the company’s development.- Buy OpenAI? -OpenAI’s unusual structure — a non-profit with a money-making subsidiary — reflected its idealistic origins as a counter to Google. However, the massive costs of designing, training, and deploying AI models have forced the company to seek a new corporate structure that would give investors equity and provide more stable governance.This need for stability became particularly evident after a 2023 boardroom coup briefly saw Altman fired, only to be reinstated days later following Microsoft’s intervention. 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 current negotiations according to The Information — appears designed to disrupt the company’s fundraising efforts.”Overall this is Musk’s attempt to hurt OpenAI’s conversion into a non-profit to slow them down. I doubt Musk’s business rationale for the bid will play out in his favor,” said Lutz Finger , visiting senior lecturer at Cornell University.- Trump attention? -Musk’s latest move to undermine his former ally came shortly after Altman made an appearance at the White House, announcing his involvement in Stargate, a Donald Trump-sponsored AI infrastructure project partnering with Japan’s SoftBank.Musk, who plays a central role in the Trump White House, immediately criticized the $500 billion AI project claiming the funding wasn’t secured in an apparent dissension with the president.Facing the barrage of hostility from the Tesla billionaire, Altman has increasingly suggested that Musk’s actions stem from regret over leaving OpenAI in 2018, particularly as Musk’s competing venture, xAI, struggles to gain traction despite massive investments.”He’s just trying to slow us down. He obviously is a competitor,” Altman told Bloomberg TV. “I wish he would just compete by building a better product…. Probably his whole life is from a position of insecurity. I don’t think he’s a happy person. I do feel for him.”

President Donald Trump on Tuesday doubled down on his idea of exiling Palestinians and placing a rebuilt Gaza under “US authority” but faced pushback from visiting Jordanian King Abdullah II.”I reiterated Jordan’s steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This is the unified Arab position. Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all,” Abdullah said on social media after the talks.However, he told Trump that Egypt was working on a plan for how countries in the region could “work” with Trump on his shock proposal.The Jordanian monarch also appeared to offer a sweetener to Trump, who the day before the visit floated the possibility of halting US aid to Jordan if it did not take in refugees.”One of the things that we can do right away is take 2,000 children, cancer children who are in a very ill state. That is possible,” Abdullah said as Trump welcomed him and Crown Prince Hussein in the Oval Office.Trump replied that it was “really a beautiful gesture” and said he didn’t know about it before the Jordanian monarch’s arrival at the White House.The US leader stunned the world when he announced a proposal last week for the United States to “take over” Gaza, envisioning rebuilding the devastated territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East” — but only after resettling Palestinians elsewhere, with no plan for them ever to return.Abdullah urged patience and said that Egypt was coming up with a response and that Arab nations would then discuss it at talks in Riyadh.”Let’s wait until the Egyptians can come and present it to the president and not get ahead of ourselves,” Abdullah said.Trump retreated from his previous talk of an aid halt to Jordan and Egypt, saying: “I don’t have to threaten that. I do believe we’re above that.”- ‘Tough guy’ – Trump, however, kept pushing his plan to “own” Gaza and place it under “US authority,” despite the fact that it is home to more than two million Palestinians who want their own sovereign state.”We don’t have to buy. We’re going to have Gaza,” Trump said. “We’re going to take it, we’re going to hold it, we’re going to cherish it.”But Trump, who made his fortune as a real estate tycoon did however deny that he would seek to personally develop property in Gaza. “No. I’ve had a great career in real estate,” he said.The meeting came as the Gaza ceasefire appears increasingly fragile, after Trump warned on Monday that “all hell” would break out if Hamas fails to release all hostages by Saturday.Trump said he doubted that the Palestinian militant group would abide by the ultimatum — but played down the risk of a longer threat to efforts to create a lasting peace between Israel and Hamas.”It’s not going to take a long time,” Trump said. “A bully is the weakest person, and they’re bullies. Hamas is bullies.” The Jordanian king and crown prince earlier met Trump’s national security advisor, Mike Waltz.King Abdullah is a key US ally but last week rejected “any attempts” to take control of the Palestinian territories and displace its people.Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is expected to visit the White House later this week, urged on Tuesday the reconstruction of Gaza “without displacing Palestinians.”Analysts say the issue is an existential one for Jordan in particular.Half of Jordan’s population of 11 million is of Palestinian origin, and since the establishment of Israel in 1948, many Palestinians have sought refuge there.In 1970 in what became known as “Black September,” clashes erupted between the Jordanian army and Palestinian groups led by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).It resulted in the expulsion of those groups.But Jordan is also keenly aware of the economic pressure Trump could exercise. Every year, Jordan receives around $750 million in economic assistance from Washington and another $350 million in military aid.On social media after the Trump talks, Abdullah stressed that his “foremost commitment is to Jordan, to its stability and to the well-being of Jordanians.”

The US Federal Reserve is in a strong position to weather the “highly uncertain” economic outlook, but its inflation fight will take time to win, a senior US central bank official said Tuesday.”As we enter 2025, the economy is in a good place,” New York Fed President John Williams told a conference in New York, according to prepared remarks. “Growth has remained solid, supported by robust consumer spending.””From where we are now, a number of signs indicate that inflation will continue to move toward our two percent longer-run goal,” added Williams, a permanent voting member of the US central bank’s rate-setting committee, referring to the Fed’s long-term inflation target. But, he noted, “it will take time before we can achieve that target on a sustained basis,” adding he did not expect inflation to reach the Fed’s two percent target this year.Williams joined his colleagues last month to vote for a pause in cuts after three straight rate reductions, holding the Fed’s key lending rate between 4.25 and 4.50 percent. The Fed’s short-term federal funds rate influences borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, affecting the price of everything from mortgages to car loans. Williams warned that, despite the strong fundamentals, “the economic outlook remains highly uncertain, particularly around potential fiscal, trade, immigration, and regulatory policies,” a passing reference to some of US President Donald Trump’s policies. Since taking office last month, Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on US allies and top trading partners including Mexico, Canada, and the European Union, and imposed a sweeping 10 percent duty on goods from China — the world’s second-largest economy. He has also said he wants to carry out the largest program of mass deportation of illegal immigrants in American history, something many economists have said could hurt growth.People in Trump’s orbit insist that, properly implemented, any negative impact from his tariff and immigration plans should be more than offset by a deregulation and tax-cutting agenda, which they see as pro-growth and anti-inflation. 

Conservative firebrand Steve Bannon, a former advisor to US President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to defrauding donors who gave money to a private scheme to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.Bannon, 71, entered a guilty plea to New York state charges in a Manhattan court in an agreement with prosecutors that spared him prison time.Bannon was indicted in 2022 for his role in a project called “We Build the Wall,” which involved private fundraising of more than $15 million to help build the southern border barrier championed by Trump.He had been scheduled to go on trial in March, facing five felony counts of money laundering, conspiracy and other charges.Bannon, one of the masterminds behind Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, also faced federal charges over the border wall scheme but received a pardon at the end of the Republican’s first term in the White House.The right-wing ideologue pleaded guilty to a single state charge on Tuesday of involvement in a “scheme to defraud in the first degree” and was given a three-year conditional discharge, which does not involve jail time or restitution.Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Bannon is barred from acting as an officer or a director of a charitable or non-profit association in New York state.Speaking to reporters outside the court, Bannon lashed out at Bragg, who brought charges against Trump for paying hush money to a porn star, and New York Attorney General Letitia James.”The existential threat to President Trump’s administration is not in federal court,” Bannon said. “The existential threat is right here in this city. It is the queen of lawfare. It’s Letitia James.”Bannon urged the new US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to launch an “immediate criminal investigation” into James and Bragg.- ‘The War Room’ -Bannon served nearly four months in federal prison in Connecticut last year after being convicted of contempt of Congress.He was sent to jail for defying a subpoena to testify before the congressional panel investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters.Bannon served in the White House during Trump’s first term as his chief strategist, but he left after seven months, reportedly due to conflicts with other top staffers.Though he no longer works officially for Trump, he has remained a vocal backer of the Republican president, mainly through his podcast “The War Room.”Bannon is one of several Trump associates who have received jail time.Former Trump economic adviser Peter Navarro also served a four-month prison term last year for defying a congressional subpoena to testify about the events of January 6, 2021.Others include former Trump legal fixer turned whistleblower Michael Cohen and the CFO of the Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg.Trump was convicted in New York in May of last year of falsifying business records to pay hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels.Trump was also charged with conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election and with mishandling classified documents but the cases were dropped after he won November’s presidential election.

The website of Kanye West’s Yeezy fashion brand was offline Tuesday after it began selling plain white T-shirts with a swastika.The site displayed the message “Something went wrong” and “This store is unavailable.”West, who now calls himself Ye, appeared in a commercial for the site that aired in Southern California during the Super Bowl.In the low-budget ad, the rapper was sitting in what appeared to be a dentist’s chair, flashing a set of diamond-encrusted dentures, and saying he had spent all the money for the commercial on the new teeth.He told viewers he had filmed the ad on an iPhone and directed them to visit his yeezy.com website.Immediately after the ad aired, Variety reported, the website had a range of West’s fashionware available, but it changed a short time later and began displaying only a single item — a white T-shirt with a large black swastika on the front, with a $20 price tag.Variety, citing people familiar with the ad booking process, said the 30-second spot had gone through the usual approval channels, which included a look at the website. Nothing objectionable was flagged.But by Tuesday the site, which was underpinned by e-commerce firm Shopify, was offline.”All merchants are responsible for following the rules of our platform. This merchant did not engage in authentic commerce practices and violated our terms, so we removed them from Shopify,” Shopify said in a statement.The fresh controversy came just days after West’s account on X — the platform formerly known as Twitter — went dark in the wake of a days-long rant that included vitriolic, anti-Semitic outbursts.It was not immediately clear if the artist and entrepreneur, who has spoken openly about struggles with bipolar disorder, had deactivated the account himself or if X took it down.”I’m logging out of Twitter. I appreciate Elon for allowing me to vent. It has been very cathartic to use the world as a sounding board,” he wrote in his final post, referring to the owner of X, Elon Musk.It is a familiar pattern for Ye, 47, who is now in the headlines as often for his provocative, often hate-filled rants as he is for his music.The rapper has been locked out of social media platforms in the past, notably when he was banned from X for nearly eight months for violating rules barring incitement to violence.Ye’s most recent missives included comments in support of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is imprisoned on sex trafficking charges. He repeatedly referred to himself as a “Nazi.”He also referred to the stunt he pulled at the Grammys last week with wife Bianca Censori, who appeared virtually nude on the red carpet ahead of the awards gala.On Tuesday, a Jewish former employee of West’s filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles alleging he had told her he was a “Nazi” and compared himself to Adolf Hitler, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Trump administration’s tariff threats and animosity towards electronic vehicles are producing a “lot of cost and a lot of chaos” for Ford, the automaker’s chief executive said Tuesday.While Trump has spoken about the priority of strengthening manufacturing in the United States, the administration thus far has been the source of tremendous “policy uncertainty” with constantly evolving tariff plans and a lack of clarity whether tax credits favoring EVs will be rolled back, he said.Appearing at a financial conference, Jim Farley described Trump’s initial plan to enact 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada as a disaster for US companies that operate across the region, while providing an unfair advantage to European and Asian automakers that also import to the United States.Trump last week suspended the tariffs for 30 days following concessions from Mexico and Canada. But they have not been removed as a possibility by the Trump administration, which yesterday announced plans to enact 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum.Farley said Ford buys most of those two metals from US firms, but that the company’s suppliers have international sources.”So that price will come through, and there may be a speculative part of the market where prices come up because tariffs are even rumored,” Farley said.”President Trump has talked a lot about making our US auto industry stronger, bringing more production here, more innovation,” Farley said, adding that these would be “signature accomplishments.”But “so far what we’re seeing is a lot of cost and a lot of chaos,” he said.Farley pointed to lingering questions about the Trump administration’s intentions on the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, which included tax incentives for consumer EV purchases and for the building of EV factories.An executive order on Trump’s first day signaled the potential elimination of tax credits favoring EVs.Farley said Ford had already “sunk capital” in major investments in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee.”Many of those jobs will be at risk if the IRA is repealed or if big parts of it is repealed,” Farley said.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday told Donald Trump that his country would take in some 2,000 sick children from war-torn Gaza, as the US president pushed his plan to take over the territory and push out Palestinians.Speaking at the White House, Abdullah added that Egypt would present a proposal on how countries in the region could “work” with Trump on the plan, despite Arab nations and the Palestinians having rejected it outright. “I think one of the things that we can do right away is take 2,000 children, cancer children who are in a very ill state, that is possible,” Abdullah said as Trump welcomed him and Crown Prince Hussein in the Oval Office.Trump called it a “beautiful gesture” and said he didn’t know about it before the Jordanian monarch’s arrival at the White House.The US president meanwhile backed down on a suggestion that he could withhold aid for Jordan and Egypt if they refused to take in more than two million Palestinians from Gaza.”I think we’ll do something. I don’t have to threaten that, I do believe we’re above that,” Trump said.Trump stunned the world when he announced a proposal last week for the United States to “take over” Gaza, envisioning rebuilding the devastated territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East” — but only after resettling Palestinians elsewhere, with no plan for them ever to return.Jordan’s Abdullah was repeatedly pressed by reporters on whether he supported the plan, but said only that Egypt was coming up with a response and that Arab nations would then discuss it at talks in Riyadh.”The president is looking at Egypt coming to present that plan… (then) we will be in Saudi Arabia to discuss how we should work with the president and with the United States,” Abdullah said.”The point is, how do we make this work in a way that is good for everybody.”- ‘Tough guy’ -The meeting came as the Gaza ceasefire appears increasingly fragile, after Trump warned on Monday that “all hell” would break out if Hamas fails to release all hostages by Saturday.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said Israel would resume “intense fighting” in Gaza if Hamas did not meet the deadline.Trump said he doubted that the Palestinian militant group would abide by the ultimatum.”I don’t think they’re going to make the deadline personally. I think they want to play a tough guy, but we’ll see how tough they are,” Trump said.But he played down the risk of a longer threat to efforts to create a lasting peace between Israel and Hamas.”It’s not going to take a long time when you know bullies,” he added, referring to Hamas.The Jordanian king and crown prince earlier met Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.King Abdullah is a key US ally but last week rejected “any attempts” to take control of the Palestinian territories and displace its people after Trump stunned the world with his proposal for Gaza.Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is expected to visit the White House later this week, urged on Tuesday the reconstruction of Gaza “without displacing Palestinians.”Analysts say the issue is an existential one for Jordan in particular.Half of Jordan’s population of 11 million is of Palestinian origin, and since the establishment of Israel in 1948, many Palestinians have sought refuge there.In 1970 in what became known as “Black September,” clashes erupted between the Jordanian army and Palestinian groups led by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).It resulted in the expulsion of those groups.But Jordan is also keenly aware of the economic pressure Trump could exercise. Every year, Jordan receives around $750 million in economic assistance from Washington and another $350 million in military aid.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the US central bank was in no hurry to adjust its interest rate-cut policy, as the country’s economy maintains resilient growth and a relatively strong labor market.With economic indices in a steady position, and only a slight uptick in inflation, the Fed recently voted to pause rate cuts, holding its key short-term lending rate at between 4.25 and 4.50 percent — still above its long-term target of two percent.”With our policy stance now significantly less restrictive than it had been and the economy remaining strong, we do not need to be in a hurry to adjust our policy stance,” Powell told senators at a congressional hearing.”We know that reducing policy restraint too fast or too much could hinder progress on inflation,” he said. “At the same time, reducing policy restraint too slowly or too little could unduly weaken economic activity and employment.”The Fed’s short-term federal funds rate influences borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, affecting the cost of everything from mortgages to car loans. At the end of last year, Fed policymakers pared back the number of rate cuts they expect this year, with some citing concerns about trade uncertainty following President Donald Trump’s election victory. In light of that, some analysts now expect only one or two rate cuts this year. Futures traders currently place a probability of just over 55 percent that the Fed will make no more than one quarter-point cut this year, according to data from CME Group.Financial markets overwhelmingly expect no change to interest rates at the Fed’s next rate decision in March. – Consumer protection void -Meanwhile, Powell also warned that no federal regulator has stepped in to protect consumers from financial misconduct following the White House’s recent decision to pause all non-essential work at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.He told the Senate Banking Committee that there was currently “no other federal agency” doing the CFPB’s regulatory job following the recent decision by Trump’s administration to pause operations at the agency.The CFPB was created in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, and serves as a watchdog over a variety of US consumer issues ranging from mortgages to credit cards and debt collection. On Monday, Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, told staff the CFPB was temporarily shuttering its headquarters and pausing all work, adding that employees should not show up.”Please do not perform any work tasks,” Vought wrote in an email to staff, adding that employees would need to seek written permission from him before doing any urgent work going forward, and should otherwise “stand down from performing any work task.”

US farmers caught up in President Donald Trump’s short-lived attempt to freeze all federal funding descended on Congress Tuesday to demand answers after grants to their politically influential sector were paused.Rural America came out strongly for Trump in last year’s presidential election, and farmers say they did not expect to be affected by the Republican’s unprecedented attempt to cut back US government programs.The farmers say they have not been reimbursed from two United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs designed to help them invest in conservation and clean energy generation. These programs were funded through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), one of former president Joe Biden’s signature pieces of legislation which pumped billions of dollars into clean energy projects across the country. Trump opposes some US efforts to fight climate change and has called the IRA the “green new scam.””I’m very concerned about the security of our farms,” 44-year-old Elisa Lane, who owns and runs a farm producing fruit and cut flowers in the US state of Maryland, told AFP on Monday.Lane was awarded $30,000 by USDA last summer to subsidize a roughly $70,000 solar panel installation on her 15-acre farm.But shortly after taking office on January 20, Trump signed an executive order instructing all agencies to “immediately pause the disbursement of funds” appropriated through the IRA.Eight days later, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a memo — since rescinded — pausing all federal grant funding. That left Lane and farmers across the country without the funding they’d counted on to complete costly projects.Since the OMB memo was published last month, Lane said she has not received the grant funding, despite an OMB clarification claiming that funds for farmers and small businesses would “not be paused” by the funding freeze.”We are American farmers, and so we are the people that when we hear ‘America first’…, that message is supposed to be for us,” Lane said, referring to Trump’s nationalist, right-wing slogan.”We’re the ones that are supposed to be elevated and cared for,” she added. “And this is in direct conflict with that ideology.”Lane planned to join several other farmers at a hearing held by the House Agriculture Committee on Tuesday, after receiving an invitation from Democrats on the committee.The USDA did not respond to a request for comment. – ‘Provide immediate clarity’ -Skylar Holden, a 27-year-old cattle farmer from the Midwestern state of Missouri told AFP that he has also had his USDA funding frozen in the wake of the OMB’s short-lived funding freeze. Holden had signed up for support from another IRA-funded USDA program designed to help farmer carry out conservation work. The USDA funding to help support the $240,000 conservation project he is planning for his 260-acre farm is now also on pause. “The worry is if I complete these projects, I’m still not going to have the funds that I need in order to make the farm payment, in order to purchase the hay we need for the following winter,” he said. Cases like those of Lane and Holden have been making headlines in the United States since the OMB memorandum was published last month, sparking calls for the Trump administration to take action.”USDA and other agencies must honor their commitments to farmers and rural communities,” National Farmers Union President Rob Larew said in a statement shared with AFP. “We strongly urge the administration to provide immediate clarity on funding and ensure that farmers and rural communities aren’t left behind,” he said.Alongside the USDA funding freeze, US farmers have also been affected by the Trump administration’s attempts to shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with the US government previously spending billions of dollars on food aid from American farmers.

President Donald Trump launched a fresh attack Tuesday on the US federal disaster agency FEMA, calling for it to be shut down and its duties instead handed to individual states.Trump, who has moved to slash government spending since taking office in January, wrote in all caps on his Truth Social platform that “The Biden run FEMA has been a disaster. FEMA should be terminated.””It has been slow and totally ineffective. Individual states should handle storms, etc., as they come. Big savings, far more efficient!!!” the Republican added.Trump echoed claims from his 2024 election campaign that the Federal Emergency Management Agency unfairly spent “tens of millions of dollars” on Democratic areas during its response to last September’s deadly storm in North Carolina, where it killed more than 100 people.FEMA, which coordinates the federal response to disasters when states request help, denied the allegations at the time. It further condemned “misinformation” after Trump alleged that FEMA funds for victims of Hurricane Helene were being diverted to migrants, flood-hit property was being confiscated, and that storm victims were only getting $750 in total compensation.Trump’s latest attack on FEMA comes as California recovers from devastating wildfires that ravaged parts of Los Angeles in January.He threatened during a visit last month to shut down the agency, saying it was “incompetently run,” while also promising victims of the fires that the “federal government (is) standing behind you. 100 percent.”Following Trump’s social media post Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security said FEMA’s chief financial officer and three other officials had been fired for apparently making “egregious payments for luxury NYC (New York City) hotels for migrants.” Details of the allegations were not immediately available.Trump has led a bombardment on federally-funded agencies in his second term as president.His targets have included the US Agency for International Development and the Department of Education, which provide assistance to millions of people, though Trump alleges they are a waste of money.The legality of his cost-cutting drive — led by billionaire Trump donor Elon Musk — has been challenged in courts, with several judges issuing injunctions and cautioning against overreach by the White House.