Trump unveils AI investment plan with OpenAI, Softbank, Oracle

President Trump on Tuesday announced a joint venture to fund artificial intelligence infrastructure worth billions of dollars with the leaders of Softbank Group Corp., OpenAI LLC, and Oracle Corp., an effort aimed at speeding development of the emerging technology. “We’re starting off with tremendous investment coming into our country at levels that nobody’s really ever seen before,” Trump said at the White House on Tuesday. Trump was joined by Softbank’s Masayoshi Son, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, and Oracle’s Larry Ellison. The joint venture will deploy $100 billion “immediately” and have a goal of increasing to “at least” $500 billion in AI projects, including data centers and physical campuses, Son said. Companies including Microsoft Corp. and Nvidia Corp. are also expected to participate. The president said he would use emergency declarations and executive action to help ease construction projects, including through easier access to energy. During their remarks, Trump and the executives highlighted potential applications for AI in health and other fields that would fuel US economic growth. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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PHILANTHROPY
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LA fire victims see $100 million in donations with more to come
In this aerial view, thousands of burned properties are seen following the Eaton fire in the Altadena area of Los Angeles county on Tuesday. JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images
GoFundMe, the crowdfunding website where people can quickly raise money to help others, has generated more than $100 million for those impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires. The sum, pledged in the wake of the fires that erupted on Jan. 7, already surpasses the $65 million raised for the 2023 fires on the Hawaiian island of Maui, according to a spokesperson. With its large population, concentration of wealthy people, and celebrities who can participate in fund-raisers, LA is a rich source for giving. Tickets go on sale Wednesday for an all-star concert to benefit victims of the fires. Featuring Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, and others, the show set for later this month will be broadcast globally on most of the top streaming services and hundreds of radio stations. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
MEDIA
Last-minute settlement talks stall Prince Harry’s high-stakes trial against British tabloids
Britain’s Prince Harry arrived at the Royal Courts Of Justice in London on March 28, 2023. Alastair Grant/Associated Press
Prince Harry’s mission to put the British tabloids on trial for decades of alleged unlawful snooping into his life was in question Tuesday as last-minute settlement talks delayed the start of a high-stakes trial pitting him against Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers. If the Duke of Sussex settles his claims against the publisher of The Sun and now-defunct News of the World, it would mark a significant reversal of his vow to be the one person who could hold them accountable and expose their misdeeds in an open trial. Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles III, and one other claimant are the only two remaining who have not joined the hundreds of others who have settled lawsuits against News Group Newspapers over allegations their phones were hacked and investigators unlawfully snooped on their lives. In more than 1,300 claims brought against the publisher since a widespread phone hacking scandal forced Murdoch to close News of the World in 2011, Harry’s case is the closest to get to trial. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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GOVERNMENT
Trump sued over order making it easier to fire federal staff
The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents US government employees across 37 agencies and departments, is suing President Trump. CHIP SOMODEVILLA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump was sued over an executive order that would make it easier to fire high-level civil service employees. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents US government employees across 37 agencies and departments, claimed in a lawsuit filed in Washington federal court late Monday that Trump’s move went against the intent of lawmakers since Congress established “due process rights” for federal career employees. “The Executive Order will radically reshape the civil service by drastically increasing the number and type of employees who are in a new category of excepted service and be at risk of dismissal without adverse action rights,” according to the lawsuit. Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary, said the lawsuit was filed by “leftists” and “the Trump Administration is ready to face them in court.” — BLOOMBERG NEWS
AVIATION
Southwest Airlines cuts 270 pilot roles in Denver and Atlanta
A Southwest Delta Airlines jetliner at Denver International Airport. David Zalubowski/Associated Press
Southwest Airlines Co. is cutting 270 pilot positions across its Denver and Atlanta operations, the latest changes under broad efforts to reduce costs and maximize use of aircraft. The moves will affect 155 roles in Denver, a Southwest spokesman said Tuesday. The flight schedule is not being cut in that market, but the airline said it plans to keep fewer planes there overnight for morning departures. Affected pilots will be offered spots at other bases, Southwest said. The changes include 115 jobs being moved out of Atlanta, fewer than the 140 expected when the carrier announced plans in September to end nearly a third of its flights through the city. Southwest has sought to reduce costs and improve efficiency following a recent fight with activist shareholder Elliott Investment Management, which led to a board shakeup. The carrier earlier this month paused hiring for management, headquarters jobs, and outside workers in the latest effort. It will begin redeye flights next month as part of network changes to increase efficiency and revenue production. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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GAMBLING
Ex-spies say suburban D.C. casino would put nation’s secrets at risk
The CIA logo in the lobby of the CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. DOUG MILLS/NYT
Forget what you’ve seen in every James Bond movie: Spies and casinos don’t mix. At least they shouldn’t mix, according to real-life spooks fighting a proposed Fairfax County casino as a national security threat. Home to CIA headquarters, the National Counterterrorism Center, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and countless supersecret defense and intelligence contractors, the D.C. suburb probably boasts more security clearances than anywhere else in America, says a group of ex-spies, who warn in a letter to state and local officials that building a casino in Tysons could lead those secret-keepers astray. “The proximity of a Tysons casino to a significant population of government, military, and contract officials with access to highly secretive government intelligence, diplomatic, and defense information will not only attract organized crime — casinos always do — but also adversarial intelligence services looking to recruit those with such access whom they hope to blackmail,” reads the letter, sent to Fairfax officials Thursday and to state officials late last month by a newly formed group named National Security Leaders for Fairfax. — WASHINGTON POST
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ENTERTAINMENT
Signage outside the Netflix Inc. office building on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. Bing Guan/Bloomberg
Netflix ended 2024 with 302 million global subscribers and an annual operating income exceeding $10 billion for the first time in the company’s history, the streaming giant said Tuesday. The company said those results were buoyed by programming in recent months that surpassed internal expectations: Season two of “Squid Game” will be one of the company’s most-watched original seasons ever; “Carry-On” landed in the platform’s Top 10 most-viewed movies; and both the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight and its NFL games racked up huge audiences. Netflix added 19 million new subscribers in the final quarter of the year, its biggest rise in a single quarter yet. Revenue jumped 16 percent in the latest quarter, and net income rose to $1.87 billion. Netflix revealed that its members watch, on average, seven films a month. In addition to “Carry-On,” other original films that performed well on the service included Richard Curtis’ “That Christmas” and Tyler Perry’s “The Six Triple Eight.” “It Ends With Us,” a film from Sony Pictures that generated many headlines because of conflicts between the film’s two stars, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, also generated big audiences for the service. — NEW YORK TIMES