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The Guardian
24 minutes ago
- Automotive
- The Guardian
Does Elon Musk's new political party need its own Donald Trump?
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. This week in tech news, Elon Musk and Donald Trump are back at it, warring over the passage of the president's sweeping tax bill and the Tesla CEO's threat to create a third political party. Whether the richest person in the world is successful in those efforts will largely depend on the recruitment of another star politician. In other news, we want to know if you use generative artificial intelligence to write your personal messages – in what circumstances, and how often? Email to let us know. Elon Musk and Donald Trump have reignited their feud after the passage of the president's sweeping tax bill on 3 July. Musk has been campaigning (tweeting) against the 'abomination' of legislation for weeks, which passed in spite of him. Division over the bill was the cause of their initial breakup in early June. Musk has threatened to start a new centrist political party, and over the weekend, he made signs that he would follow through on his ultimatums to create 'The America Party'. Trump responded with a lengthy post on Truth Social calling Musk a 'TRAIN WRECK' that had gone 'off the rails' and saying that third parties had never succeeded in the US, so Musk's idea was 'ridiculous'. Tesla's share price fell sharply in response to the news. What would Musk's America party do besides troll Democrats and Republicans? Likely try to primary Republicans who voted for the bill. From my colleague Ramon Antonio Vargas: The new party that Elon Musk has boasted about bankrolling could initially focus on a handful of attainable House and Senate seats while striving to be the decisive vote on major issues amid the thin margins in Congress. Musk tweeted that one way to achieve his political goals would be to 'laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts'. Would Musk himself become a candidate? Unlikely. He has promised to return his focus to his many companies, though his most recent tweets indicate otherwise. What Musk needs to make his part a reality is another Donald Trump, a superstar aligned with him whom he can douse with money. His function in politics is that of an ATM The Wisconsin supreme court election in early April demonstrated that Musk himself is not personally popular. After appearing on stage and handing out million-dollar checks, he watched his preferred candidate lose handily. His function in politics is that of an ATM. He is, after all, the richest person in the world, even though Tesla's market capitalization has taken a beating since he appeared in Washington. Since Musk himself is an ineffective electioneer, the success of his new political party will depend on an undeniable star like Trump, another titanic force. He needs a conduit who can channel his donations into a charming and effective campaign. So far, there doesn't seem to be one. Trump's grip on the Republican party is tight, and he runs an operation that enacts swift and pitiless retribution on anyone who expresses enough disloyalty, including Musk. The risk of defecting from Trump's party and joining Musk's quixotic centrist quest is high. The only people who do want to see a new party form are the chaos-hungry voters on X, who told Musk by a considerable margin in a poll last week he ran that he should do it. Few of them, if any, are running for office, though. I suspect they just want the most fractious outcome, which may become our collective fate. A moment of odd and coincidental timing: Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, picked this weekend to say that he feels 'politically homeless'. Musk has given the same assessment of his own political position. These two Silicon Valley heavyweights hate each other, an acrimony evident in Musk's lengthy legal fight to stop OpenAI's planned conversion from a non-profit to a for-profit enterprise. Despite their enmity, though, they voiced this same idea at the same time. Musk and Altman have cultivated starkly different public personae. Where Musk is loud online, Altman is reserved. Where Musk is brash, Altman is calculated. Where Musk has swerved to the political right, Altman has attempted to play both sides of the aisle. But Altman's sentiments, concurrent and concurring with Musk's, perhaps offer an explanation for how these two could have worked together to found OpenAI together in 2015. After all, if their stock portfolios are any indication they both believe in 'the compounding magic of capitalism', as Altman put it. Last week, we published a story about people who use generative artificial intelligence to write their personal messages. AI is proliferating in offices with promises of productivity gains. As we grow more comfortable with it at work, though, it's also seeping into our personal lives. My colleague Adrienne Matei reports: Earlier this spring, Nik Vassev heard a high school friend's mother had died. Vassev, a 32-year-old tech entrepreneur in Vancouver, Canada, opened up Claude AI, Anthropic's artificial intelligence chatbot. Sign up to TechScape A weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives after newsletter promotion Claude helped Vassev craft a note. Thanks to the message, Vassev's friend opened up about their grief. But Vassev never revealed that AI was involved. People 'devalue' writing that is AI-assisted, he acknowledges. In one 2023 study, 208 adults received a 'thoughtful' note from a friend; those who were told the note was written with AI felt less satisfied and 'more uncertain about where they stand' with the friend, according to the authors. Using AI in personal messages is a double gamble: first, that the recipient won't notice, and second, that they won't mind. Still, there are arguments for why taking the risk is worthwhile, and why a hint of AI in a Hinge message might not be so bad. Read the whole story here. We now have the capability to punch up any message – a more descriptive word here, a more heartfelt tone there – with a snap of a finger. Can AI help us better convey what we mean, eliminating the frustrating barrier of writing that stands between feeling and expression? Or will it desiccate our relationships if we do not force ourselves through the emotions of writing our messages ourselves? Will AI help us connect or allow us to feign connection without putting in the work? Both the benefits and drawbacks are evident, and some scenarios seem more appropriate than others. Perhaps you would not have sent a birthday card at all if you had not had a personalized message at the ready. One writer for the Atlantic was astounded when Google's Gemini, which has access to her personal conversations, wrote a sweet and specific birthday card that referenced real moments in her relationship with a good friend. Perhaps you would have ghosted someone without a mechanized speechwriter. The context in which you decide you will use AI to write – or when you disclose that you already have – will make all the difference in its reception. We want to hear more. AI is influencing our private moments and our intimate connections as well as our professional lives, and we want to know what situations you find it best suited to. ***Do you use generative AI to write your personal communications? If you do, email us at and tell us how and how often. Has it improved your relationships with others or made them more difficult? 'The vehicle suddenly accelerated with our baby in it': the terrifying truth about why Tesla's cars keep crashing Elon Musk's xAI gets permit for methane gas generators Jury says Google must pay California Android smartphone users $314.6m Trump to start TikTok sale talks with China, he says, with deal 'pretty much' reached Trump officials create searchable national citizenship database 'AI doesn't know what an orgasm sounds like': audiobook actors grapple with the rise of robot narrators Wimbledon chiefs defend AI use as Jack Draper says line calls not '100% accurate' Google undercounts its carbon emissions, report finds 'A billion people backing you': China transfixed as Musk turns against Trump Trump and Musk's feud blows up again with threats of Doge and deportation
Washington Post
24 minutes ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Caitlin Clark picks all-star teammates to take on Napheesa Collier's squad
Tasked with drafting her all-star squad, Caitlin Clark opted for players who are literally on her side — and eschewed a few names who might be considered rivals. Clark, the Indiana Fever star who received the most fan votes this year during balloting for the WNBA All-Star Game, alternated selections Tuesday with Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx, who got the second-most fan votes. They first rounded out their starting lineups with the eight other All-Star Game starters, then picked from a pool of 12 reserves.
Reuters
24 minutes ago
- Business
- Reuters
How US buyers of critical minerals bypass China's export ban
BEIJING, July 9 (Reuters) - Unusually large quantities of antimony - a metal used in batteries, chips and flame retardants - have poured into the United States from Thailand and Mexico since China barred U.S. shipments last year, according to customs and shipping records, which show at least one Chinese-owned company is involved in the trade. China dominates the supply of antimony as well as gallium and germanium, used in telecommunications, semiconductors and military technology. Beijing banned exports of these minerals to the U.S. on December 3 following Washington's crackdown on China's chip sector. The resulting shift in trade flows underscores the scramble for critical minerals and China's struggle to enforce its curbs as it vies with the U.S. for economic, military and technological supremacy. Specifically, trade data illustrate a re-routing of U.S. shipments via third countries - an issue Chinese officials have acknowledged. Three industry experts corroborated that assessment, including two executives at two U.S. companies who told Reuters they had obtained restricted minerals from China in recent months. The U.S. imported 3,834 metric tons of antimony oxides from Thailand and Mexico between December and April, U.S. customs data show. That was more than almost the previous three years combined. Thailand and Mexico, meanwhile, shot into the top three export markets for Chinese antimony this year, according to Chinese customs data through May. Neither made the top 10 in 2023, the last full year before Beijing restricted exports. Thailand and Mexico each have a single antimony smelter, according to consultancy RFC Ambrian, and the latter's only reopened in April. Neither country mines meaningful quantities of the metal. U.S. imports of antimony, gallium and germanium this year are on track to equal or exceed levels before the ban, albeit at higher prices. Ram Ben Tzion, co-founder and CEO of digital shipment-vetting platform Publican, said that while there was clear evidence of transshipment, trade data didn't enable the identification of companies involved. "It's a pattern that we're seeing and that pattern is consistent," he told Reuters. Chinese companies, he added, were "super creative in bypassing regulations." China's Commerce Ministry said in May that unspecified overseas entities had "colluded with domestic lawbreakers" to evade its export restrictions, and that stopping such activity was essential to national security. It didn't respond to Reuters questions about the shift in trade flows since December. The U.S. Commerce Department, Thailand's commerce ministry and Mexico's economy ministry didn't respond to similar questions. U.S. law doesn't bar American buyers from purchasing Chinese-origin antimony, gallium or germanium. Chinese firms can ship the minerals to countries other than the U.S. if they have a license. Levi Parker, CEO and founder of U.S.-based Gallant Metals, told Reuters how he obtains about 200 kg of gallium a month from China, without identifying the parties involved due to the potential repercussions. First, buying agents in China obtain material from producers. Then, a shipping company routes the packages, re-labelled variously as iron, zinc or art supplies, via another Asian country, he said. The workarounds aren't perfect, nor cheap, Parker said. He said he would like to import 500 kg regularly but big shipments risked drawing scrutiny, and Chinese logistics firms were "very careful" because of the potential repercussions. Thai Unipet Industries, a Thailand-based subsidiary of Chinese antimony producer Youngsun Chemicals, has been doing brisk trade with the U.S. in recent months, previously unreported shipping records reviewed by Reuters show. Unipet shipped at least 3,366 tons of antimony products from Thailand to the U.S. between December and May, according to 36 bills of lading recorded by trade platforms ImportYeti and Export Genius. That was around 27 times the volume Unipet shipped in the same period a year earlier. The records list the cargo, parties involved, and ports of origin and receipt, but not necessarily the origin of the raw material. They don't indicate specific evidence of transshipment. Thai Unipet couldn't be reached for comment. When Reuters called a number listed for the company on one of the shipping records, a person who answered said the number didn't belong to Unipet. Reuters mailed questions to Unipet's registered address but received no response. Unipet's parent, Youngsun Chemicals, didn't respond to questions about the U.S. shipments. The buyer of Unipet's U.S. shipments was Texas-based Youngsun & Essen, which before Beijing's ban imported most of its antimony trioxide from Youngsun Chemicals. Neither Youngsun & Essen nor its president, Jimmy Song, responded to questions about the imports. China launched a campaign in May against the transshipment and smuggling of critical minerals. Offenders can face fines and bans on future exports. Serious cases can also be treated as smuggling, and result in jail terms of more than five years, James Hsiao, a Hong Kong-based partner at law firm White & Case, told Reuters. The laws apply to Chinese firms even where transactions take place abroad, he said. In cases of transshipment, Chinese authorities can prosecute sellers that fail to conduct sufficient due diligence to determine the end user, Hsiao added. Yet for anyone willing to take the risk, big profits are available overseas, where shortages have sent prices for gallium, germanium and antimony to records. The three minerals were already subject to export licensing controls when China banned exports to the U.S. China's exports of antimony and germanium are still below levels hit before the restrictions, according to Chinese customs data. Beijing now faces a challenge to ensure its export-control regime has teeth, said Ben Tzion. "While having all these policies in place, their enforcement is a completely different scenario," he said.
South Wales Argus
25 minutes ago
- Sport
- South Wales Argus
LOOK: Usk's 'quacking' annual duck race brings in crowds
The annual event, organised by Usk Athletic Club and Usk Cricket Club, took place on Friday, July 4. Hundreds of yellow rubber ducks were launched from Usk Bridge at 7pm, racing to the finish line in the river. There were prizes for the winning ducks, and a family-friendly after-party at Usk Athletic Club with food, drinks, and music. South Wales East MS, Laura Anne Jones, said: "Absolutely brilliant Usk duck race yesterday. "I love this annual tradition in my hometown, that I've now enjoyed for over four decades, and now enjoy with my children. "Massive well done to Usk Athletic Club and Usk Cricket Club for hosting and organising yet another great event. "With the river water level very low, it was tough for the ducks this year. "Thank you so much to all the volunteers in the river scooping them up. "Great food, drink and community fun was then had back at the cricket club. "Well done all involved there too. "Some great BBQ skills on show men. "And lastly thanks to Usk Town Council Mayor Diane Richards and of course a huge thank you to the legend that is Kay Peacock for running the show. "A great time had by our community and the many visitors that came to enjoy it this year." The event was free to watch, and people could 'adopt' their own duck to race. The event page on Facebook described it as one of "Usk's most entertaining and beloved events," and that it would be "quacking good fun." There was also a barbecue and bar available, as well as live entertainment at the club after the race. Anyone who is interested in updates about next year's duck race, or other events, can follow the Usk Duck Race Facebook page. Hundreds of rubber ducks took to the river (Image: Richard Johnstone) (Image: Richard Johnstone) (Image: Richard Johnstone) (Image: Richard Johnstone) (Image: Richard Johnstone) (Image: Richard Johnstone) (Image: Richard Johnstone) (Image: Richard Johnstone)
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Oil prices ease from two-week highs as investors await tariff clarity
By Arathy Somasekhar (Reuters) -Oil prices edged slightly lower on Wednesday after rising to two-week highs in the previous session, as investors were watching new developments on U.S. tariffs and trying to gauge their impact. Brent crude futures were down 20 cents, or 0.3%, at $69.95 a barrel by 0121 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 21 cents, or 0.4%, to $68.12 a barrel. U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff delay provided some hope to major trade partners Japan, South Korea and the European Union that deals to ease duties could still be reached, while bewildering some smaller exporters such as South Africa and leaving companies with no clarity on the path forward. Trump pushed back Wednesday's previous deadline to August 1, a date he said on Tuesday was final, declaring: "No extensions will be granted." He also said he would impose a 50% tariff on imported copper and soon introduce long-threatened levies on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, broadening his trade war that has rattled markets worldwide. While the tariffs have prompted worries of oil demand destruction, strong travel demand for the July 4th weekend buoyed hopes. A record 72.2 million Americans were projected to travel more than 50 miles (80 km) for Fourth of July vacations, data from travel group AAA showed last week. On the supply side, the U.S. will produce less oil in 2025 than previously expected as declining oil prices have prompted U.S. producers to slow activity this year, the Energy Information Administration forecast on Tuesday in a monthly report. The world's largest oil producer is projected to produce 13.37 million barrels per day of oil in 2025, versus last month's forecast of 13.42 million bpd, the EIA said in its short-term energy outlook report. In 2026, the U.S. will produce 13.37 million bpd, in line with the previous forecast. OPEC+ oil producers are, on the other hand, set to approve another big output boost for September as they complete both the unwinding of voluntary production cuts by eight members and the United Arab Emirates' move to a larger quota, five sources said. On Saturday, the group approved a 548,000 bpd jump for August. However, the actual output increase has been smaller than the announced levels so far and most of the supply has been from Saudi Arabia, analysts said. Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions remained, providing a floor for prices. Four seafarers on the Liberian-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier Eternity C were killed in a drone and speedboat attack off Yemen, an official with knowledge of the issue said on Tuesday, the second incident in a day after months of calm. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
