President-elect Trump backs H-1B visas, siding with Elon Musk after the tech billionaire pledged to go to "war" to defend the program and branded GOP opponents "hateful, unrepentant racists."
Why it matters: The MAGA-DOGE civil war that erupted over the last 48 hours has now come to a tipping point, with Trump's new techno-libertarian coalition of billionaires taking full aim at his traditional base.
Nothing revs up MAGA like the chance to dunk on DEI — diversity, equity and inclusion.
DEI-bashing is the core of the "anti-woke" theology. MAGA warriors want a true color/gender-blind meritocracy, they say.
Why it matters: MAGA's DEI unity has hit a big snag. Elon Musk — a MAGA fanboy and fav until this past week — and others on X are arguing forcefully that in a true meritocracy, you'd pick harder-working foreigners for high-skilled gigs over less-qualified Americans.
Researchers are building an AI system that they hope will, one day, allow humans to understand the many languages that animals use to communicate with one another.
Why it matters: Understanding what animals are saying could not only aid human knowledge of our world, but advocates say it might also provide a compelling case for giving animals broader legal rights.
Elon Musk condemned a segment of the MAGA movement as "contemptible fools" who should be purged from the Republican Party in a social media post Friday.
Why it matters: A virtual right-wing civil war has broken out over race, class, immigration and the future of President-elect Trump's movement, and Musk is increasingly at odds with Trump's historic base.
Sriram Krishnan has become a MAGA lightning rod since President-elect Trump named him as a senior adviser on artificial intelligence, due to both anti-Indian racism and Krishnan's pro-immigration views.
The big picture: Krishnan is an unlikely candidate for controversy, known throughout Silicon Valley for his affability and to the broader world as co-host of a podcast with his wife, tech entrepreneur Aarthi Ramamurthy.
An erupting civil war in MAGA world over foreign workers has shone a fresh spotlight on a visa scheme that has become the backbone of the country's highly skilled tech industry.
Why it matters: The brewing conflict has underscored the schism between one of President-elect Trump's cornerstone pledges — cracking down on immigration — and his Silicon Valley supporters, many of whose businesses depend on attracting foreign workers.
A handful of conservative critics of Elon Musk are alleging censorship and claiming they were stripped of their verification badges on X after challenging his views on H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers.
Why it matters: The H-1B issue and an X post by Musk ally Vivek Ramaswamy about America's culture of "mediocrity" have sparked an online MAGA civil war over immigration and race. Some supporters of President-elect Trump are now turning on Musk and the tech bros Trump has tapped for key administration roles.
OpenAI confirmed Friday its plan to restructure its operations in a move that will separate its large and growing business from the nonprofit board that currently oversees it.
Why it matters: The plan, which faces opposition from Elon Musk and others, builds on comments chair Bret Taylor made at Axios' recent AI+ Summit in San Francisco.
