OpenAI to buy iPhone designer’s startup for $6.5b. The...
OpenAI to buy iPhone designer’s startup for $6.5b. The ChatGPT-maker is signalling its intention to go big on hardware with its biggest acquisition to date. It’s buying io, an AI device company helmed by Apple design legend Jony Ive, in a $6.5 billion all-stock deal. Ive, who started the company alongside other ex-Apple designers, will take on “deep creative and design responsibilities across OpenAI and io,” OpenAI said. OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman called Ive “the greatest designer in the world” in an X post, saying he was “excited to try to create a new generation of AI-powered computers.”
The “big, beautiful” tax and spending bill the president desires is getting closer to becoming a reality as Republicans work out their differences and make last-minute changes before an anticipated House vote. House Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly made a deal with the “SALT caucus” to raise the cap on state and local tax deductions to $40,000, and President Trump helped persuade hardline conservatives to accept the legislation with some changes.
The Justice Department is working to cancel settlements with Minneapolis and Louisville that required an overhaul of their police departments following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
A federal judge found that the Trump administration had violated his earlier order by putting migrants on a flight to South Sudan in the latest clash between the administration and the judiciary over immigration enforcement.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia known for fighting for federal workers, has died at age 75 while battling cancer.
Fortnite is again available in Apple’s app store after years of legal wrangling, and it’s the No. 1 free game.
The “Tush Push” will remain allowed in NFL games after team owners declined to ban it.
US Lifts Stop-Work Order for Equinor’s Empire Wind Project
Equinor said May 19 that it has been cleared to restart construction...
Equinor said May 19 that it has been cleared to restart construction of its Empire Wind project offshore New York after the U.S. lifted a stop work order.
The move by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management came about a month after the Interior Department ordered the company to halt construction until it reviewed information suggesting the Biden administration rushed through the project’s approval without sufficient analysis.
The Interior Department approved the construction and operations plan for the project in February 2024, about six years after the project’s site assessment plan was approved.
UK suspended trade talks with Israel over Gaza offensive
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced that the UK is ...
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced that the UK is suspending negotiations with Israel on a new free trade agreement due to Israel’s blockade of and new ground offensive in Gaza. The news came as several allies of Israel—including the UK, France, and Canada—increasingly denounced its expanding military operation in Gaza. A joint statement by the three allies threatened “further concrete actions” if Israel does not lift its aid restrictions. Meanwhile, the EU said it’s reviewing its trade deal with Israel amid the “catastrophic” situation in Gaza.
FDA will limit access to Covid booster shots. In a...
FDA will limit access to Covid booster shots. In a major policy shift, the FDA will no longer routinely approve annual Covid shots for most healthy people, the Trump administration said yesterday. Under the new guidelines, the FDA will continue to offer shots to adults 65 and older and high-risk younger people—but shots for other Americans will have to undergo more studies before they’re approved. Experts say the change is expected to limit the number of Americans who get a Covid shot each year. FDA officials argued that “one-size-fits-all” vaccines are outdated and that the new framework puts the US in line with other countries. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, was an early opponent of Covid shots.
Home Depot said it doesn’t plan to raise prices due to tariffs following Walmart’s announcement that it does.
Levi Strauss sold khaki giant Dockers to Authentic Brands, which also owns Reebok and Aeropostale, for $311 million.
CATL, the world’s biggest EV battery manufacturer, surged in its Hong Kong market debut after raising $4.6 billion for its IPO.
Elon Musk said he’s committed to staying on as CEO of Tesla for at least another five years and would only stop “if I’m dead.”
Apple TV+ will release Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical—the first new Peanuts musical special in 35 years—on July 18.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil...
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose again, this time by 2.499 million barrels in the week ending May 16 after analysts had estimated a 1.85-million-barrel draw. The API reported a 4.287 million barrel inventory increase in the prior week. So far this year, crude oil inventories are up more than 25 million barrels, according to Oilprice calculations of API data.
Gasoline inventories fell in the week ending May 16, by 3.238 million barrels, after falling by 1.374 million barrels in the week prior. As of last week, gasoline inventories were already 3% below the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest EIA data.
Distillate inventories were also down this week, by 1.401 million barrels. In the week prior, distillate inventories slid by 3.675 million barrels. Distillate inventories were already a startling 16% below the five-year average as of the week ending May 9, the latest EIA data shows.
Cushing inventories—the benchmark crude stored and traded at the key delivery point for U.S. futures contracts in Cushing, Oklahoma—fell by 443,000 barrels, the API data showed, compared to last week’s 850,000 barrel dip.
