☕ Trump's plan for AI domination

Good morning!

It’s all about AI today - and amid the major policy announcements from the White House, Amazon quietly announced it was acquiring the ‘Bee Bracelet’, a wearable device that listens to everything you say throughout the day and gives you personalized summaries of conversations.

The first issue to iron out? Apparently, the device picks up conversations from social media feeds and TV shows and thinks it’s part of the user’s day. That would be a fascinating summary.

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Some headlines from this morning:

• Bryan Kohberger has been sentenced to life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students in 2022. The 30-year-old former criminal justice doctoral student received four consecutive life terms for stabbing Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in their rental home on November 13, 2022. Prosecutors agreed to spare him the death penalty in exchange for the guilty plea, though his motive remains unknown. Family members delivered emotional victim impact statements before the sentencing, with Kaylee's father calling Kohberger "a joke" for leaving DNA evidence despite studying criminology.

• The Wall St Journal has reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed President Trump that his name appears in Department of Justice files related to Jeffrey Epstein prosecutions. Three sources familiar with White House discussions said Trump learned of his inclusion in the documents as supporters question why he hasn't released Epstein-related files. The report adds scrutiny to Trump's documented relationship with the disgraced financier during the 1990s and early 2000s. The White House has not commented on whether Trump will authorise the release of the Justice Department files.

• Several people have been injured and two civilians are dead as violent clashes continue to escalate at Thailand’s border with Cambodia. Tensions have intensified in recent months over a long-standing land dispute, with both countries increasing their military presence at the border. At least two Thai civilians were reportedly killed by cross-border shelling this week, prompting the evacuation of thousands of Thai citizens from border villages. Thailand's embassy has told its citizens to leave Cambodia immediately, while both nations have now recalled their ambassadors. According to Cambodian media reports, Thai forces have bombarded two local provinces. Each country is accusing the other of unprovoked attacks.

• Tesla reported a 12% revenue drop and 42% decline in operating income, marking its second consecutive quarter without growth. The electric vehicle maker's stock has fallen from its January peak of $428 per share, with analysts partly attributing the decline to CEO Elon Musk's role in the Trump administration spurring consumer boycotts. Musk told investors he believes Tesla could become "the most profitable company in the world" citing new autonomous vehicles and robotics projects. The company faces increasing competition in the electric vehicle market as traditional automakers expand their offerings.

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Columbia University will pay $220 million to settle federal investigations into campus antisemitism and discriminatory practices—the first deal since President Trump began targeting elite universities over their handling of pro-Palestine protests.

The settlement ends months of federal pressure that saw the government cancel over $400 million in grants and threaten to withdraw more than $1 billion in additional funding from the Ivy League institution. Here's what you need to know.

What happened?

The Trump administration launched multiple civil rights investigations into Columbia earlier this year, alleging the university failed to address antisemitism during high-profile pro-Palestine demonstrations and maintained discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in hiring and admissions.

Federal officials used these allegations to justify freezing hundreds of millions in research grants and threatening to cut off all federal funding - a move that would devastate the university's operations.

The deal

Under the three-year settlement, Columbia agreed to sweeping changes to campus life, including overhauling its student disciplinary process and adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism.

The university will also implement new screening procedures for international students, requiring them to explain "their reasons for wishing to study in the United States."

However, Columbia avoided some of Trump's more aggressive initial demands, such as restructuring the university's governance entirely.

"This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty," Acting University President Claire Shipman said.

The deal includes $21 million specifically to settle Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigations, though university officials did not admit wrongdoing.

What’s next

Columbia's settlement comes as other elite universities face similar pressure. Harvard appeared in court this week, fighting federal funding cuts, arguing the Trump administration's actions are "politically motivated."

At least five other institutions - Cornell, Northwestern, the University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton - are currently facing funding cuts or investigations, although Harvard remains the only university to sue the federal government.

The Columbia deal could serve as a template for how other universities negotiate with the Trump administration to restore their federal funding.

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President Trump released his long-awaited Artificial Intelligence Action Plan on Wednesday, outlining a strategy to deregulate AI development and accelerate infrastructure building to compete with China.

The 23-page report comes six months after Trump ordered its creation and marks his latest effort to dismantle the AI safety regulations implemented by former President Biden. Here's what you need to know.

The strategy

The strategy is built around three main areas: removing regulations that slow AI innovation, building massive data centers to support AI development, and protecting American AI technology from foreign competitors like China.

Trump simultaneously signed three executive orders implementing key parts of the plan, telling an AI summit that the federal government "should be hesitant to regulate the functionality of AI models in the private marketplace."

The plan specifically targets what Trump calls "woke Marxist lunacy in AI models," requiring companies seeking federal contracts to ensure their systems are "objective and free from top-down ideological bias."

“Woke AI”

Trump argued that Biden had "established toxic diversity, equity and inclusion ideology as a guiding principle of American AI development."

Under the new plan, AI companies working with the government must demonstrate their systems don't reflect what the administration considers liberal bias - though the plan doesn't specify how this would be measured or enforced.

Trump also threatened to restrict federal funding for states that attempt to regulate AI independently, saying: "We also have to have a single federal standard, not 50 different states regulating this industry of the future."

Infrastructure

The second pillar of the strategy is to invest in the building and operation of data centers, required to power sophisticated AI models.

Trump signed an executive order to streamline federal permitting for such facilities. These data centers require massive amounts of electricity and water, raising questions about environmental impact that the plan doesn't address in detail.

International AI diplomacy

The President posed the AI race as the modern-day space race.

"We're gonna win it, because we will not allow any foreign nation to beat us," Trump said.

The White House praised the plan as a pathway to "solidify [the U.S.'s] position as the leader in AI and secure a brighter future for all Americans."

The shift

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