President Trump on Tuesday announced billions in private sector investments to grow artificial intelligence in the U.S. and build massive new data centers for OpenAI.
The big picture: OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle and the UAE's MGX will convene under a joint venture called Stargate, and will commit $100 billion to start with a potential of up to $500 billion over four years.
Several Instagram users have reported seeing hashtags such as "#democrat," "republicans," "#jan6th" and "#johnoliver" being blocked, accompanied by a message stating, "We've hidden these results."
The big picture: The changes came as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had initiated a rapid reversal of policies in the run-up to President Trump's inauguration, including replacing fact-checkers with community notes and having Instagram and Threads recommend political content to users once again.
Business executives and former officials are hopeful President Trump willact fast to name senior cyber leaders, lean hard into cyber offensives, and implement policies to advance AI cyber tools.
Why it matters: The small pool of mostly bipartisan D.C. cyber policy leaders is likely to have an outsized role in shaping Trump's cybersecurity policy during his second term.
The big picture: Trump started his presidency this week as the U.S. responds to two major China-backed cyber operations — one that spied on high-ranking politicians through U.S. telecommunications networks and another that breached various offices in the Treasury Department.
Two-thirds of organizations believe AI and machine learning technologies, including generative AI, will have the biggest impact on cybersecurity in 2025, according to the World Economic Forum's annual global cyber outlook.
Why it matters: Expect companies' IT budgets to align with these concerns.
That means more money going toward buying AI-enabled cyber defense and building new products to fight AI-enabled cyber threats.
📲 Trump signed an executive order directing the attorney general to not enforce TikTok's "divest or ban" law for 75 days. (Axios)
🇨🇳 The Treasury Department sanctioned a Chinese national and a China-based cybersecurity company for participating in the Salt Typhoon hacking campaign against U.S. telcos. (CyberScoop)
🏛️ Kristi Noem, Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, said during her confirmation hearing that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is "far off mission" and should be smaller. (Nextgov)
@ Industry
📈 Identity management company SailPoint has experienced a rise in subscription revenue that has helped the firm narrow its losses, according to new IPO paperwork. (Reuters)
Humanity is "on the verge" of having AI agents that can complete tasks in the real world, OpenAI product chief Kevin Weil told Axios' Ina Fried in Davos Tuesday.
Why it matters: Weil's prediction comes days after Axios reported that a major AI company was close to announcing a breakthrough regarding the creation of Ph.D.-level AI super-agents capable of completing complex tasks.
The Trump administration inherited some big health policy headaches on Monday. And the nature of federal rules means it can't start from scratch on key questions about surprise billing, coverage of GLP-1s and prescribing controlled substances.
The big picture: All eyes will be on Trump health appointees as they sort through unfinished business from the Biden years.
President Trump moved to obliterate the outer bounds of executive power Monday, igniting a series of constitutional showdowns that could curtail — or enable — his vision for a maximalist second term.
Why it matters: Within hours of taking office, Trump dared the courts, Congress and his fragmented opposition to stand in the way of what could be his most enduring legacy: a radical expansion of presidential power.
Recent moves by Microsoft and Google show many business customers are balking at forking over a separate fee each month to give employees access to a work-friendly AI chatbot.
Why it matters: Both companies previously expressed high hopes that businesses would be willing to pay an extra $20 or $30 per employee per month for access to AI tools alongside everyday productivity apps.
Hours after being sworn in as president for a second time, President Trump signed executive orders declaring a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border and calling for more barriers as part of an aggressive crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Why it matters: Some of Trump's most audacious plans — which include deporting millions of immigrants and ending birthright citizenship — won't happen immediately since they are certain to draw legal challenges.
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