OpenAI and US FDA hold talks about using AI in drug evaluation, Wired reports
OpenAI and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have been meeting to discuss the health regulator's use of AI, technology news platform Wired reported on Wednesday, citing sources with knowledge of the meetings.
Sources close to the project say a small team from OpenAI has met with the FDA and two associates of Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency multiple times in recent weeks, according to the report.
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AsiaOne
3 hours ago
- AsiaOne
Trump says he has no plans to speak to Musk as feud persists, World News
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on Friday (June 6) that he has no plans to speak with Elon Musk, signaling the president and his former ally might not resolve their feud over a sweeping tax-cut bill any time soon. Addressing reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he wasn't "thinking about" the Tesla CEO. "I hope he does well with Tesla," Trump said. However, Trump said a review of Musk's extensive contracts with the federal government was in order. "We'll take look at everything," the president said. "It's a lot of money." Trump may get rid of the red Tesla Model S that he bought in March after showcasing Musk's electric cars on the White House lawn, a White House official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Musk, for his part, did not directly address Trump but kept up his criticism of the massive Republican tax and spending bill that contains much of Trump's domestic agenda. On his social-media platform X, Musk amplified remarks made by others that Trump's "big beautiful bill" would hurt Republicans politically and add to the nation's US$36.2 trillion (S$46.7 trillion) debt. He replied "exactly" to a post by another X user that said Musk had criticised Congress and Trump had responded by criticising Musk personally. Musk also declared it was time for a new political party in the United States "to represent the 80 per cent in the middle!" People who have spoken to Musk said his anger has begun to recede and they think he will want to repair his relationship with Trump, according to one person who has spoken to Musk's entourage. The White House statements came one day after the two men battled openly in an extraordinary display of hostilities that marked a stark end to a close alliance. Tesla stock rose on Friday, clawing back some losses from Thursday's session, when it dropped 14 per cent and lost US$150 billion in value, the largest single-day decline in the company's history. Musk's high-profile allies have largely stayed silent during the feud. But one, investor James Fishback, called on Musk to apologise. "President Trump has shown grace and patience at a time when Elon's behaviour is disappointing and frankly downright disturbing," Fishback said in a statement. Musk, the world's richest man, bankrolled a large part of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Trump named Musk to head a controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. Trump feted Musk at the White House a week ago as he wrapped up his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk cut only about half of one per cent of total spending, far short of his brash plans to axe US$2 trillion from the federal budget. Since then, Musk has denounced Trump's tax-cut and spending bill as a "disgusting abomination." His opposition is complicating efforts to pass the bill in Congress where Republicans hold a slim majority. Trump's bill narrowly passed the House of Representatives last month and is now before the Senate, where Republicans say they will make further changes. Nonpartisan analysts say the measure would add US$2.4 trillion in debt over 10 years. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he has been texting with Musk and hopes the dispute is resolved quickly. "I don't argue with him about how to build rockets and I wish he wouldn't argue with me about how to craft legislation and pass it," Johnson said on CNBC. 'Very disappointed' Trump had initially stayed quiet while Musk campaigned to torpedo the bill, but broke his silence on Thursday, telling reporters he was "very disappointed" in Musk. Musk, who spent nearly US$300 million in last year's elections, said Trump would have lost without his support and suggested he should be impeached. Trump suggested he would terminate government contracts with Musk's businesses, which include rocket company SpaceX and its satellite unit Starlink. The billionaire then threatened to decommission SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, the only US spacecraft capable of sending astronauts to the International Space Station. Musk later backed off that threat. Musk had been angered when Trump over the weekend revoked his nomination of Musk ally Jared Isaacman to head the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Two sources with direct knowledge of the dispute said White House personnel director Sergio Gor had helped turn Trump against Isaacman by highlighting his past donations to Democrats. Musk and Gor had been at odds since the billionaire criticised Gor's pace of hiring at a March cabinet meeting, the two sources said. A White House spokesperson, Steven Cheung, praised Gor's efforts to staff the administration but did not address his relationship with Musk. A prolonged feud could make it harder for Republicans to keep control of Congress in next year's midterm elections if Musk withholds financial support or other major Silicon Valley business leaders distance themselves from Trump. Musk had already said he planned to curtail his political spending, and on Tuesday he called for "all politicians who betrayed the American people" to be fired next year. His involvement with the Trump administration has provoked widespread protests at Tesla sites, driving down sales while investors fretted that Musk's attention was too divided. [[nid:718829]]
CNA
4 hours ago
- CNA
EchoStar prepares potential bankruptcy filing amid FCC review, WSJ reports
EchoStar is considering a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing as the telecommunications services firm vies to shield its cache of wireless spectrum licenses from the threat of revocation by federal regulators, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The company declined to comment on the report. Last month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) notified EchoStar it was investigating the company's compliance with certain federal obligations to provide 5G service in the U.S., questioning EchoStar's buildout extension and mobile-satellite service. FCC's actions have severely limited the company's ability to make strategic decisions regarding the growth and investment of its Boost Mobile business, according to a regulatory filing by the company last month. EchoStar has previously disclosed that it missed roughly $500 million in interest payments, citing uncertainty around the ongoing FCC review.
CNA
7 hours ago
- CNA
Commentary: Tesla is being eaten alive by Chinese rivals it inspired
NEW YORK: The biggest story swirling around Tesla right now concerns chief executive Elon Musk's sudden, if unsurprising, break with a leader who is as calm and unassuming as he is, President Donald Trump. The important story concerns what is happening far from these shores: China. Shipments from Tesla's Shanghai factory fell by 15 per cent in May compared with a year before, according to preliminary data from China's Passenger Car Association. That marks eight straight months of declining output from Tesla's single biggest electric vehicle factory, accounting for around 40 per cent of its global capacity. These figures don't break out which of those EVs get sold in China or get exported from there, but this trend is not Tesla's friend. Through April, its share of China's battery EV market had fallen by more than half over the past four years, according to data compiled by New AutoMotive, a UK-based research firm. DETERIORATING ECONOMICS The numbers also suggest deteriorating economics. On a simple, calendar-day basis, they imply Shanghai factory utilisation of 76 per cent in May. That isn't terrible, but it's down significantly from last May. So far this year, excluding the month of February when Tesla was retooling for the refreshed Model Y, implied utilisation is running 10 points lower than the same period in 2024. Speaking of that updated Model Y, it isn't a good sign that Tesla has already offered incentives like zero-per cent financing in China. Taken together, lower capacity utilisation, implying higher fixed costs per vehicle and higher discounts, meaning less net revenue, point to a continuing problem with what was all too apparent in Tesla's first-quarter results: crushed profit margins in its main business. Unlike Tesla's weaker EV sales in other important markets such as California and Europe, the slide in China has nothing to do with Musk's politics. Tesla's reputation within China remains high, viewed as an essential catalyst in revolutionising the quality and scale of the country's auto sector. NOT A CATALYST, BUT A REACTANT Except that "catalyst" isn't quite the right word, because the beauty of catalysts is that they spark transformations but don't get used up in the process. In this case, it would be more accurate to call Tesla a reactant, because the domestic Chinese EV industry spurred on by its example is now eating it alive. While Tesla's share of China's battery EV sales is down to about 10 per cent so far this year, that drops to 5.8 per cent when you include other so-called 'new energy vehicles' (NEV) such as plug-in hybrids, according to figures compiled by Goldman Sachs Group. Competitors including BYD, which holds about 27 per cent of China's NEV market, are now delivering the sort of excitement that Tesla used to in terms of looks, range and driver assistance features – and at lower prices. Xiaomi, the smartphone maker, is in the process of launching the YU7, a high-tech, fast-charging electric SUV that resembles a Porsche or Ferrari but is perhaps best pictured as a Model Y-seeking missile. In an alternate dimension, China would serve as a hothouse laboratory for Tesla to hone world beating, profitable EVs that might even be exported to its home market. In the dimension we've got, Musk has seemingly lost his ambition to develop brand new, affordable EVs that can compete across the world. AN ERODED POSITION Tesla's last genuinely new model, the Cybertruck, is certainly big but only about as 'beautiful' as the Trump tax Bill that Musk now openly derides as an ' abomination '. While Tesla sits apart from the legacy automakers in the US, Germany and Japan in many respects – certainly in terms of valuation – it has, like them, seen its position in China eroded rapidly. And regardless of Musk's latest posts on X, he worked hard to secure the election of a president and Congressional majority intent on crushing EV sales in the US. With the end of the second quarter approaching, and the sales figures emanating from China and Europe portending another set of weak earnings, it is perhaps little wonder that this narrative is crowded out by all manner of other things. Musk, who ditched Tesla's public relations team and routinely denounces the media as 'propaganda' has nonetheless plunged into a media blitz of late, and has now whipped up a new political intrigue. Is the break with Trump real? My litmus test: watch out if @elonmusk posts a picture of a taco. Plus, of course, we have the imminent launch of Tesla's self-driving cars in Austin. Whatever they actually turn out to be, with the always dubious narrative of Musk's White House job boosting Tesla's fortunes now played out, those robotaxis constitute the main pillar supporting Tesla's triple-digit earnings multiple.
