Connect with us

Business

Fortune Tech: Trump threatens EU with tariffs over Google fine

Published

on


Good morning. It’s Jeremy here, filling in for Andrew who, along with many of my Fortune colleagues, is kicking off Fortune Brainstorm Tech in Deer Valley, Utah today. Check out fortune.com for coverage of the mainstage sessions.

Over the weekend, everyone was still talking about that White House dinner. Never has such an extraordinary collection of intellectual heft gathered in the White House since Thomas Jefferson dined—oh never mind.

But the amount of market power gathered in the room on Thursday night was truly extraordinary. Dave Smith has a rundown of who was there below. If nothing else, it was the dinner that launched a thousand memes. (If you haven’t checked out the deepfake parody someone created of Bill Gates’ remarks at the dinner, it’s hilarious, but NSFW, so I won’t link to it here.)

Coming to “kiss the ring” certainly seems to have paid off for at least one of the guests, Sundar Pichai. Fresh from having escaped lightly from the U.S. government’s antitrust suit against Alphabet, Pichai’s dinner performance may have helped convince Trump to go to bat for Google with the EU. (Not that Trump needed too much persuading.)

More on that, as well as all the other tech news–including Anthropic’s potentially precedent-setting settlement of an AI copyright case—below.

—Jeremy Kahn

Want to send thoughts or suggestions to Fortune Tech? Drop a line here.

Trump threatens (trade) war over EU Google fine

Sundar Pichai, Alphabet and Google CEO, speaks at a White House dinner on Thursday attended by President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and a number of leading executives from technology and AI companies. 

Jim Lo Scalzo—EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened the European Union with additional tariffs after the bloc fined Google €2.9 billion ($3.4 billion) for violating competition laws with its search ad practices and ordered it to change its business practices.

Just hours after the EU announced the fine on Friday and a day after he met with Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai at the White House, Trump took to Truth Social to call the decision “very unfair.”

“We cannot let this happen to brilliant and unprecedented American Ingenuity,” Trump wrote. He also threatened a trade investigation that could result in additional tariffs on EU goods.

The fine is one of the largest Google-parent Alphabet has ever faced. It previously hit the tech giant with a €4.2 billion fine in 2018 for anticompetitive behavior in the way it used Android. Google has 60 days to tell the EU how it will comply, with Brussels threatening to break up the company if it is not satisfied with the proposed solution. 

“At this stage, it appears that the only way for Google to end its conflict of interest effectively is with a structural remedy, such as selling some part of its Adtech business,” EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said.

Alphabet has promised to appeal the decision, which it called “unjustified.” Trump’s threat of further tariffs comes as the EU is in the middle of tricky negotiations with Washington over a possible trade deal.

Jeremy Kahn

Anthropic reaches landmark $1.5 billion settlement in AI copyright case

Anthropic just dodged a potentially existential legal blow to its business with a $1.5 billion settlement.

The suit was a class action brought by authors over the use of some copyrighted works used to train Anthropic’s Claude model. The case centered on how the company allegedly obtained some of the training data by bulk-downloading pirated texts from shadow libraries like LibGen, rather than whether training AI on copyrighted books counts as “fair use” (a judge said it does). It was set to go to trial in December. 

The settlement, which equates to roughly $3,000 per book across 500,000 works, is being billed as the largest copyright recovery in history. 

It comes just days after the company raised $13 billion at a $183 billion valuation. While the settlement is steep, it’s manageable for a firm the size of Anthropic and amounts to less than a third of its projected $5 billion in annual revenue. More importantly, it spares the company from trial, where damages could have reached $1 trillion.

For now, the case sets a benchmark other AI giants may need to meet. Authors are also suing Meta and OpenAI on similar grounds. Legal experts said Anthropic’s deal with authors may be a “Napster-to-iTunes” moment for AI, forcing the industry toward real licensing markets for training data.

—Beatrice Nolan

Burn baby, burn: OpenAI’s Cash Inferno

OpenAI is telling investors to brace for a much bigger burn rate than previously expected. 

The company now projects spending could hit $115 billion by 2029, roughly $80 billion higher than earlier estimates, according to a report from The Information.

It wasn’t all bad news for shareholders, however, as OpenAI also reportedly raised its total revenue outlook to $200 billion by 2030, up 15% from prior forecasts. Revenue from ChatGPT alone is expected to generate nearly $90 billion by the end of the decade. 

The higher burn rate could explain why the company is raising more capital than any private startup in history. Investors are buying shares at a $500 billion valuation, per the report, nearly double what they paid six months ago. 

One of the key drivers behind the AI company’s soaring expenses is its cloud use. OpenAI has become one of the world’s largest renters of cloud servers. To counter some of these costs, the company is investing heavily in developing its own data center server chips and facilities (see the item in “More Tech” below).

—Beatrice Nolan

Trump and Silicon Valley break bread

President Donald Trump hosted Big Tech heavyweights at a White House dinner in the newly renovated Rose Garden late last week. The lavish display marked a sharp contrast with Trump’s first-term clashes with Big Tech.

The guest list was made up of 13 billionaires plus a roster of top VCs and executives, including Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Tim Cook, and Bill Gates, who each took turns praising the president.

Microsoft’s Satya Nadella lauded Trump and his policies for “helping a lot,” AMD’s Lisa Su praised the “acceleration” under the administration’s watch, and Oracle’s Safra Catz credited him with “unleashing American innovation and creativity.” Sam Altman thanked Trump for being “a pro-business and pro-innovation president” and pledged to “invest a ton in the United States.”

Trump, in turn, pressed executives on how much they plan to spend domestically, coaxing commitments in the hundreds of billions. 

Former ally and “first buddy” Elon Musk was notably absent following a very public spat with Trump over his “Big Beautiful Bill.” He later insisted on social media that he was invited but couldn’t attend.

—Dave Smith

More tech

OpenAI strikes a $10 billion custom AI chip deal with Broadcom. The move could help to ease the shortage of high-powered chips.

ASML becomes Mistral AI’s top shareholder. ASML invested $1.5 billion in Mistral’s $2 billion Series C, sources told Reuters. 

Cable cuts in the Red Sea briefly disrupted Microsoft’s Azure service. Microsoft said on Saturday it was no longer detecting issues.

“Godfather of AI” Geoffrey Hinton says AI will spark a surge in unemployment and profits. But he says capitalism is to blame for this, not AI. 

Palantir’s Alex Karp says AI won’t replace U.S. skilled labor. Karp argued the tech will actually enhance workers’ value.

Authors sue Apple over use of books in AI training
It’s the latest in a wave of lawsuits that claim tech companies violated copyright protections.

Endstop triggered

This is the web version of Fortune Tech, a daily newsletter breaking down the biggest players and stories shaping the future. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.



Source link

Continue Reading

Business

SpaceX to offer insider shares at record-setting $800 billion valuation

Published

on



SpaceX is preparing to sell insider shares in a transaction that would value Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite maker at as much as $800 billion, people familiar with the matter said, reclaiming the title of the world’s most valuable private company. 

The details, discussed by SpaceX’s board of directors on Thursday at its Starbase hub in Texas, could change based on interest from insider sellers and buyers or other factors, said some of the people, who asked not to be identified as the information isn’t public. SpaceX is also exploring a possible initial public offering as soon as late next year, one of the people said. 

Another person briefed on the matter said that the price under discussion for the sale of some employees and investors’ shares is higher than $400 apiece, which would value SpaceX at between $750 billion and $800 billion. The company wouldn’t raise any funds though this planned sale, though a successful offering at such levels would catapult it past the record of $500 billion valuation achieved by OpenAI in October.

Elon Musk on Saturday denied that SpaceX is raising money at a $800 billion valuation without addressing Bloomberg’s reporting on the planned offering of insiders’ shares. 

“SpaceX has been cash flow positive for many years and does periodic stock buybacks twice a year to provide liquidity for employees and investors,” Musk said in a post on his social media platform X. 

The share sale price under discussion would be a substantial increase from the $212 a share set in July, when the company raised money and sold shares at a valuation of $400 billion. The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times earlier reported the $800 billion valuation target.

News of SpaceX’s valuation sent shares of EchoStar Corp., a satellite TV and wireless company, up as much as 18%. Last month, EchoStar had agreed to sell spectrum licenses to SpaceX for $2.6 billion, adding to an earlier agreement to sell about $17 billion in wireless spectrum to Musk’s company.

Subscribe Now: The Business of Space newsletter covers NASA, key industry events and trends.

The world’s most prolific rocket launcher, SpaceX dominates the space industry with its Falcon 9 rocket that lifts satellites and people to orbit.

SpaceX is also the industry leader in providing internet services from low-Earth orbit through Starlink, a system of more than 9,000 satellites that is far ahead of competitors including Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Leo.

Elite Group

SpaceX is among an elite group of companies that have the ability to raise funds at $100 billion-plus valuations while delaying or denying they have any plan to go public. 

An IPO of the company at an $800 billion value would vault SpaceX into another rarefied group — the 20 largest public companies, a few notches below Musk’s Tesla Inc. 

If SpaceX sold 5% of the company at that valuation, it would have to sell $40 billion of stock — making it the biggest IPO of all time, well above Saudi Aramco’s $29 billion listing in 2019. The firm sold just 1.5% of the company in that offering, a much smaller slice than the majority of publicly traded firms make available.

A listing would also subject SpaceX to the volatility of being a public company, versus private firms whose valuations are closely guarded secrets. Space and defense company IPOs have had a mixed reception in 2025. Karman Holdings Inc.’s stock has nearly tripled since its debut, while Firefly Aerospace Inc. and Voyager Technologies Inc. have plunged by double-digit percentages since their debuts.

SpaceX executives have repeatedly floated the idea of spinning off SpaceX’s Starlink business into a separate, publicly traded company — a concept President Gwynne Shotwell first suggested in 2020. 

However, Musk cast doubt on the prospect publicly over the years and Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen said in 2024 that a Starlink IPO would be something that would take place more likely “in the years to come.”

The Information, citing people familiar with the discussions, separately reported on Friday that SpaceX has told investors and financial institution representatives that it’s aiming for an IPO of the entire company in the second half of next year.

Read More: How to Buy SpaceX: A Guide for the Eager, Pre-IPO

A so-called tender or secondary offering, through which employees and some early shareholders can sell shares, provides investors in closely held companies such as SpaceX a way to generate liquidity.

SpaceX is working to develop its new Starship vehicle, advertised as the most powerful rocket ever developed to loft huge numbers of Starlink satellites as well as carry cargo and people to moon and, eventually, Mars.



Source link

Continue Reading

Business

National Park Service drops free admission on MLK Day and Juneteenth while adding Trump’s birthday

Published

on



The National Park Service will offer free admission to U.S. residents on President Donald Trump’s birthday next year — which also happens to be Flag Day — but is eliminating the benefit for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth.

The new list of free admission days for Americans is the latest example of the Trump administration downplaying America’s civil rights history while also promoting the president’s image, name and legacy.

Last year, the list of free days included Martin Luther King Jr Day and Juneteenth — which is June 19 — but not June 14, Trump’s birthday.

The new free-admission policy takes effect Jan. 1 and was one of several changes announced by the Park Service late last month, including higher admission fees for international visitors.

The other days of free park admission in 2026 are Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day, Veterans Day, President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday (Oct. 27) and the anniversary of the creation of the Park Service (Aug. 25).

Eliminating Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, which commemorates the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Americans were emancipated, removes two of the nation’s most prominent civil rights holidays.

Some civil rights leaders voiced opposition to the change after news about it began spreading over the weekend.

“The raw & rank racism here stinks to high heaven,” Harvard Kennedy School professor Cornell William Brooks, a former president of the NAACP, wrote on social media about the new policy.

Kristen Brengel, a spokesperson for the National Parks Conservation Association, said that while presidential administrations have tweaked the free days in the past, the elimination of Martin Luther King Jr. Day is particularly concerning. For one, the day has become a popular day of service for community groups that use the free day to perform volunteer projects at parks.

That will now be much more expensive, said Brengel, whose organization is a nonprofit that advocates for the park system.

“Not only does it recognize an American hero, it’s also a day when people go into parks to clean them up,” Brengel said. “Martin Luther King Jr. deserves a day of recognition … For some reason, Black history has repeatedly been targeted by this administration, and it shouldn’t be.”

Some Democratic lawmakers also weighed in to object to the new policy.

“The President didn’t just add his own birthday to the list, he removed both of these holidays that mark Black Americans’ struggle for civil rights and freedom,” said Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. “Our country deserves better.”

A spokesperson for the National Park Service did not immediately respond to questions on Saturday seeking information about the reasons behind the changes.

Since taking office, Trump has sought to eliminate programs seen as promoting diversity across the federal government, actions that have erased or downplayed America’s history of racism as well as the civil rights victories of Black Americans.

Self-promotion is an old habit of the president’s and one he has continued in his second term. He unsuccessfully put himself forwardfor the Nobel Peace Prize, renamed the U.S. Institute of Peace after himself, sought to put his name on the planned NFL stadium in the nation’s capital and had a new children’s savings program named after him.

Some Republican lawmakers have suggested putting his visage on Mount Rushmore and the $100 bill.



Source link

Continue Reading

Business

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says Europe has a ‘real problem’

Published

on



JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon called out slow bureaucracy in Europe in a warning that a “weak” continent poses a major economic risk to the US.

“Europe has a real problem,” Dimon said Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum. “They do some wonderful things on their safety nets. But they’ve driven business out, they’ve driven investment out, they’ve driven innovation out. It’s kind of coming back.”

While he praised some European leaders who he said were aware of the issues, he cautioned politics is “really hard.” 

Dimon, leader of the biggest US bank, has long said that the risk of a fragmented Europe is among the major challenges facing the world. In his letter to shareholders released earlier this year, he said that Europe has “some serious issues to fix.”

On Saturday, he praised the creation of the euro and Europe’s push for peace. But he warned that a reduction in military efforts and challenges trying to reach agreement within the European Union are threatening the continent.

“If they fragment, then you can say that America first will not be around anymore,” Dimon said. “It will hurt us more than anybody else because they are a major ally in every single way, including common values, which are really important.”

He said the US should help.

“We need a long-term strategy to help them become strong,” Dimon said. “A weak Europe is bad for us.”

The administration of President Donald Trump issued a new national security strategy that directed US interests toward the Western Hemisphere and protection of the homeland while dismissing Europe as a continent headed toward “civilizational erasure.”

Read More: Trump’s National Security Strategy Veers Inward in Telling Shift

JPMorgan has been ramping up its push to spur more investments in the national defense sector. In October, the bank announced that it would funnel $1.5 trillion into industries that bolster US economic security and resiliency over the next 10 years — as much as $500 billion more than what it would’ve provided anyway. 

Dimon said in the statement that it’s “painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing.”

Investment banker Jay Horine oversees the effort, which Dimon called “100% commercial.” It will focus on four areas: supply chain and advanced manufacturing; defense and aerospace; energy independence and resilience; and frontier and strategic technologies. 

The bank will also invest as much as $10 billion of its own capital to help certain companies expand, innovate or accelerate strategic manufacturing.

Separately on Saturday, Dimon praised Trump for finding ways to roll back bureaucracy in the government.

“There is no question that this administration is trying to bring an axe to some of the bureaucracy that held back America,” Dimon said. “That is a good thing and we can do it and still keep the world safe, for safe food and safe banks and all the stuff like that.”



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Miami Select.