Author: Grace Johnson

US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick announced on Friday that Washington will purchase a 10% stake in Intel. “This historic agreement strengthens American leadership in semiconductors. It will grow our economy and secure our technological edge,” Lutnick wrote on X. He posted the message with a photo alongside Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan. President Donald Trump confirmed the deal earlier in the Oval Office. He called it “a great deal for them.” Shares of the Santa Clara-based chipmaker jumped more than 5% on Friday. Intel confirmed that the US government will invest $8.9bn (£6.6bn) in its common stock. Grants redirected to…

Elon Musk and his company X have agreed to a settlement with former staff. The workers had sued for $500 million in unpaid severance. The agreement was disclosed in a court filing on Wednesday. Both sides asked the San Francisco appeals court to delay a hearing. They said more time was needed to complete the paperwork. Lawsuit followed massive layoffs The case arose after Musk cut around 6,000 jobs in 2022. That was more than half of the company’s global workforce. Many of the dismissed staff challenged the severance packages in court. So far, lawyers for the employees and representatives…

Sony will lift the price of the PlayStation 5 in the United States by around $50 starting Thursday. The Japanese tech giant faces rising production costs and weaker sales in the global gaming market. Sony executive Isabelle Tomatis explained in a blog post that the company is operating in a “challenging economic environment.” All three versions of the console will see increases. The Pro edition now comes with a retail price of $749.99. Tariffs push costs higher for consumers The move follows tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on several major trade partners, including Japan. These measures have raised concerns…

The Kremlin has dismissed suggestions of an imminent summit between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. At the same time, Donald Trump renewed his call for both leaders to meet and discuss ending the war in Ukraine. The push for direct negotiations came after Trump met Putin in Alaska last week. On Monday, he hosted Zelensky and seven European leaders at the White House. Trump admitted the conflict would be tough to resolve. He also warned that Putin might not want to stop the fighting. “We’re going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks,” he said…

An Australian court has fined airline giant Qantas 90 million Australian dollars for unlawful sackings during the Covid-19 crisis. The company had dismissed more than 1,800 ground staff in 2020. Australia’s Transport Workers’ Union welcomed the decision. It called the fine the largest in history for breaches of industrial relations law. Court delivers a clear warning Federal Court Justice Michael Lee said the penalty must serve as real deterrence. He stressed that employers must know such conduct has consequences. Qantas accepted the ruling and announced it will pay the fine. The company admitted it caused harm to its workers. “We…

A US senator has begun an investigation into Meta. A leaked internal document reportedly revealed that the company’s artificial intelligence enabled “sensual” and “romantic” conversations with children. Leaked document sparks outrage Reuters reported the paper was titled “GenAI: Content Risk Standards.” Republican Senator Josh Hawley condemned its contents as “reprehensible and outrageous.” He demanded to see the entire document and the list of affected products. Meta denied the accusations. A spokesperson said: “The examples and notes in question were erroneous and inconsistent with our policies.” The company stressed it had “clear rules” for chatbot responses. These rules “prohibit content that…