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Indonesia suspends Musk’s Grok AI over porn New Age
from news.google.com
The UK government says X limiting Grok AI image edits to users who pay a monthly fee is “insulting” to victims of misogyny and sexual violence.
It follows backlash after Elon Musk’s AI engine digitally changed images of people by undressing them – something it says it now can only do for those who pay a monthly instalment.
The BBC’s technology editor Zoe Kleinman explains what’s happened and why.
The UK government “wants any excuse for censorship”, Elon Musk has said, amid a growing backlash over deepfake sexual images produced by his social media site X’s artificial intelligence tool.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said X needed “to get a grip of” its AI chatbot Grok, and he had asked media regulator Ofcom for “all options to be on the table”.
Musk Calls UK ‘Fascist’ as Row Over Grok AI Images Escalates Bloomberg.com
from news.google.com
This week, President Trump sent shockwaves through Wall Street when he announced via Truth Social his plan to ban large corporations and foreign entities from purchasing single-family homes. The proposal targets institutional investors like Blackstone and other real estate investment trusts that have been buying up American homes by the hundreds of thousands — driving up prices and locking out first-time buyers.
Political support came swiftly from both sides of the aisle. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, announced that he would introduce legislation to codify the ban, saying, “Millions of young Americans have been locked out of the American Dream.” Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.V., called it “huge,” while Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Jim Banks, R-Ind., signaled support. Even Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said she’s been advocating for years to limit Wall Street from buying up America’s homes.
The market reaction was severe. Invitation Homes tumbled 6 percent. Blackstone fell 9 percent. American Homes 4 Rent dropped 6.3 percent. And Wall Street understood completely: Trump means business. But for Main Street families, this proposal offers real hope.
The Department of Health and Human Services will be freezing funding for childcare services in five blue states, the Trump administration announced on Monday.
#BREAKING: Trump admin freezes childcare funding in New York, California, and other states.
— Insider Wire (@InsiderWire) January 5, 2026
The New York Post reported that over $10 billion in childcare funding would be paused for California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York after funds were being funneled to illegal immigrants. Further, all 50 states will be required to provide increased data before releasing funds for childcare.
HHS further announced that it would close a Biden-era loophole that allowed for payouts without verifying attendance. Under the new guidelines, states can require payouts to be granted by attendance rather than enrollment and upfront payouts are no longer required.
“Paying providers upfront based on paper enrollment instead of actual attendance invites abuse,” Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill said in a statement. “In Minnesota, we’ve seen credible and widespread allegations of fraudulent daycare providers who were not caring for children at all. The reforms we are enacting will make fraud harder to perpetrate.”
China warns satellites from Elon Musk’s Starlink are ‘safety and security’ risk South China Morning Post
from news.google.com
Elon Musk says Neuralink will ramp up production of brain-chip implants in 2026 Business Insider
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EU says ‘seriously looking’ into Musk’s Grok AI over sexual deepfakes of minors France 24
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Blow to China From Loss of Venezuela Oil Blunted by Hoard at Sea Bloomberg.com
from news.google.com
The U.S. strike on Venezuela has renewed focus on the country’s oil sector, which includes some of the richest crude reserves in the world.
“We’re going to rebuild the oil infrastructure, which will cost billions of dollars, it will be paid for by the oil companies directly. And we’re going to get the oil flowing the way it should be,” President Trump said in a public address on Saturday following the attack, in which the U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
Here’s what to know about Venezuela’s oil industry.
Artificial intelligence is easily the most deceptive technological innovation of the 21st century. Its ease of use and the lightning-fast reflexes with which it spits out responses belie its enormous appetite for water and energy.ChatGPT took the world by storm when it launched in late 2023, signalling an era of intelligence demand marked by seamless, conversational interactions between user and machine But behind every smooth exchange lies a complex physical process. Modern AI is built on vast neural networks trained on trillions of words, images, and numbers. This training, to help models learn to predict the next word or recognise a pattern, involves processing colossal datasets repeatedly through graphics processing units, or GPUs. These chips, originally designed for rendering video game graphics, have become AI workhorses because they can perform thousands of mathematical operations simultaneously. But this speed comes at a price: intense heat.
President Donald Trump signed a New Year’s Eve proclamation delaying increased tariffs on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities for a year, citing ongoing trade talks
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a New Year’s Eve proclamation delaying increased tariffs on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities for a year, citing ongoing trade talks.
Trump’s order signed Wednesday keeps in place a 25% tariff he imposed in September on those goods, but delays for another year a 30% tariff on upholstered furniture and 50% tariff on kitchen cabinets and vanities.
Defense stocks in Europe and Asia surged on Monday as investors assessed how the dramatic overthrow of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro could herald a significant geopolitical shift that will boost the rearmament trade in the long run.
Rheinmetall, Germany’s largest arms manufacturer, gained over 8%, while military technology and surveillance specialist Hensoldt rose more than 7%. Italy’s Leonardo added more than 5%, while German counterpart Renk added around 8%.
Swedish fighter jet maker Saab added more than 6%.
The largest gain in jobs was in the healthcare sector, with 46,000 jobs added.
The US economy added 64,000 jobs in November, beating economists’ expectations. The unemployment rate has remained little changed from September, at 4.6 percent for the year’s penultimate month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed on Tuesday. The release of November’s jobs report was delayed due to the government shutdown that went from October 1 through November 12, and the October jobs report was not released due to the shutdown.
The largest gain in jobs was in the healthcare sector, with 46,000 jobs added. Of that total, 24,000 were in ambulatory health care services, 11,000 were in hospitals, and 11,000 were in nursing and residential care facilities. Construction saw 28,000 jobs added, and 18,000 jobs were added in social assistance. Transportation and warehousing saw a decrease in 18,000 jobs. The BLS noted that the federal government went down by 6,000 jobs, with a total of federal government employment going down by 271,000 since January.
It’s getting nightmarish for Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolas Maduro.
First, there was the tanker seizure.
According to Axios:
The Trump Administration dramatically escalated its standoff with Venezuela on Wednesday by seizing a large tanker loaded with crude oil bound for Cuba.
Why it matters: President Trump’s pressure campaign on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has now struck at the heart of Venezuela’s oil-based economy.
- The unofficial aim of the Venezuela campaign — which up to now has mainly entailed deadly strikes on suspected drug-running boats — is regime change in Caracas, as Axios first reported in January.
Trump tariffs live updates: US suspends tech deal with UK; Trump has said tariff revenues could pay for at least 9 different things Yahoo Finance
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The resurgence of the political right in Latin America and Mexico’s recently approved tariffs were among the issues spoken about at President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Monday morning press conference.
Here is a recap of the president’s Dec. 15 mañanera.
Sheinbaum: Shift to the right won’t happen in Mexico
Citing the victory of José Antonio Kast in Chile’s presidential election on Sunday as well as the results of recent elections in Argentina and Bolivia, a reporter asked the president about the shift to the right of “some voters in Latin America.”
Sheinbaum responded that the situation in “each country” would need to be analyzed to determine why voters in some Latin American nations have recently supported right-wing candidates and parties in large numbers.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he will permit semiconductor giant Nvidia to export its high-end H200 chips to China, potentially handing Beijing a boost in the battle for artificial intelligence supremacy. In characteristic fashion, Trump is insisting on the U.S. government taking a 25 percent cut of the sales.
The H200 isn’t Nvidia’s most advanced chip, but it outclasses the cut-down models that Nvidia had designed especially for the Chinese market. The deal is undoubtedly a product of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s lobbying in Washington, but it also appears designed to curry favor with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom Trump hopes to secure a significant trade agreement.
The move comes amid a flurry of conciliatory behavior toward China. Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, is reportedly tasked with blocking any U.S. government action that could jeopardize a potential trade deal with Beijing. Vice President J.D. Vance has been echoing Chinese rhetoric, and the administration effectively killed legislation that would have required U.S. firms to offer the government first-purchase rights on key chips.
Korea Zinc announced on Monday a $7.4 billion smelter project in Tennessee that will be backed by the U.S. government and which will lessen our reliance on China for critical minerals used in defense systems, electronics, and so much more that powers our modern world.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick took to X to laud the news:
Statement from Secretary Lutnick:
Big win for America. ⬇️
President Trump just secured a transformational critical minerals deal that strengthens our national security, rebuilds our industrial base, and ends our dependence on foreign supply chains.
Today, we announced a major…
Another South American country has gone “far-right” and the timing couldn’t be better for the U.S. as it seeks to secure its critical mineral supply chain.
Several weeks ago, Bolivia elected Rodrigo Paz as its new president. He promptly planned to scrap a ream of taxes as one of his first moves since becoming the nation’s first conservative leader in nearly two decades.
The government has also repaired relations with Washington after years of anti-American hostility dating back to when ex-President Evo Morales, a charismatic coca-growing union leader, kicked out the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2008 and cozied up to Russia, Iran and Venezuela.
The U.S. State Department has already announced agreements on nuclear cooperation and security assistance, and Paz has said his administration will allow Elon Musk’s Starlink to operate in Bolivia for the first time, after his predecessor refused to give it an operating license last year.
The Federal Reserve reduced its key interest rate by a quarter-point for the third time in a row Wednesday but signaled that it may leave rates unchanged in the coming months, a move that could attract ire from President Donald Trump, who has demanded steep reductions to borrowing costs.
In a statement released after a two-day meeting, the Fed’s rate-setting committee suggested further rate cuts would depend on signs that the economy is faltering. And in a set of quarterly economic projections, Fed officials signaled they expect to lower rates just once next year.
Wednesday’s cut reduced the rate to about 3.6%, the lowest it has been in nearly three years. Lower rates from the Fed can bring down borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards over time, though market forces can also affect those rates.
While the Indiana legislature’s congressional redistricting efforts generate massive national attention, a weaker immigration enforcement bill is quietly moving faster than a stronger, “gold-standard” bill supported by Gov. Mike Braun and border czar Tom Homan.
The two immigration bills, Senate Bill 76 and House Bill 1039, include a lot of identical language. But SB 76 weakens and drops a number of HB 1039’s provisions.
SB 76 is sponsored by Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, who faces primary challenger Darren Vogt after she single-handedly blocked an immigration enforcement bill similar to HB 1039 earlier this year. SB 76 passed the judiciary committee Brown chairs Tuesday afternoon 6-2. In response to a Federalist query about whether she’d give HB 1039’s Senate companion sponsored by ranking member Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, an equal hearing, Brown’s spokeswoman told The Federalist, “Sen. Brown is focused first on getting her bill through Committee and then she’ll see what the House does.”
China Erupts: Furious Workers Riot As Factories Collapse Under Trump’s Tariffs AOL.com
from news.google.com
Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA did not reply to a request for comment. Venezuela’s government this week said the US seizure constituted a “theft.” The White House National Security Council did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The US has assembled a target list of several more sanctioned tankers for possible seizure, according to one of the people familiar with the matter.
The US Justice Department and Homeland Security had been planning the seizures for months, according to two of the people.
A reduction or halt in Venezuelan oil exports, the main generator of revenue for the Venezuelan government, would strain the Maduro government’s finances.
The tariffs will apply to goods from China and other nations. Washington has been pressuring Mexico to move away from dealing with China.
from www.nytimes.com
President Donald Trump’s administration has revealed sweeping fraud inside the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), top officials have announced.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins revealed that at least 186,000 deceased individuals were receiving benefits.
However, the huge number is expected to grow further once data from Democrat-run states is finally disclosed.
Rollins detailed the findings while addressing concerns surrounding SNAP, describing the scale of fraud as staggering.