Trump's war on Harvard: Ex-Rangitoto student is twice in the gun as current Chinese student
Crimson Education co-founder and current Harvard student Fangzhou Jiang says the Trump administration will struggle to implement a block on visas for Chinese students with ties to the Communist Party or studying "critical fields".
The Herald spoke to two students at Harvard caught in the middle of Trump's war on Harvard – ex-Epsom Girls Grammar pupil Nensy Tsyan, who graduated this week, and ex-Rangitoto College dux Fangzhou Jiang – who still has a semester to go.
Jiang is twice caught in the crosshairs
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1News
3 hours ago
- 1News
Musk could lose billions depending on how spat with Trump unfolds
The world's richest man could lose billions in his fight with world's most powerful politician. The feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump could mean Tesla's plans for self-driving cars hit a roadblock, SpaceX flies fewer missions for NASA, Starlink gets fewer overseas satellite contracts and the social media platform X loses advertisers. Maybe, that is. It all depends on Trump's appetite for revenge and how the dispute unfolds. Joked Telemetry Insight auto analyst Sam Abuelsamid said: 'Since Trump has no history of retaliating against perceived adversaries, he'll probably just let this pass.' Turning serious, he sees trouble ahead for Musk. ADVERTISEMENT 'For someone that rants so much about government pork, all of Elon's businesses are extremely dependent on government largesse, which makes him vulnerable.' Trump and the federal government also stand to lose from a long-running dispute, but not as much as Musk. Tesla robotaxis US President and tech billionaire part ways over over Trump's 'big, beautiful, budgeet bill'. (Source: 1News) The dispute comes just a week before a planned test of Tesla's driverless taxis in Austin, Texas, a major event for the company because sales of its EVs are lagging in many markets, and Musk needs a win. Trump can mess things up for Tesla by encouraging federal safety regulators to step in at any sign of trouble for the robotaxis. Even before the war of words broke out on Thursday, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration requested data on how Musk's driverless, autonomous taxis will perform in low-visibility conditions. That request follows an investigation last year into 2.4 million Teslas equipped with full self-driving software after several accidents, including one that killed a pedestrian. ADVERTISEMENT A spokesman for NHTSA said the probe was ongoing and that the agency "will take any necessary actions to protect road safety'. The Department of Justice has also probed the safety of Tesla cars, but the status of that investigation is unclear. The DOJ did not respond immediately to requests for comment. The promise of a self-driving future led by Tesla inspired shareholders to boost the stock by 50% in the weeks after Musk confirmed the Austin rollout. But on Thursday, the stock plunged more than 14% amid the Trump-Musk standoff. On Friday, it recovered a bit, bouncing back nearly 4%. 'Tesla's recent rise was almost entirely driven by robotaxi enthusiasm," said Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein. 'Elon's feud with Trump could be a negative.' A member of the Seattle Fire Department inspects a burned Tesla Cybertruck at a Tesla lot in Seattle on March 10, 2025 (Source: Associated Press) Carbon credits business One often overlooked but important part of Tesla's business that could take a hit is its sales of carbon credits. ADVERTISEMENT As Musk and Trump were slugging it out Thursday, Republican senators inserted new language into Trump's budget bill that would eliminate fines for gas-powered cars that fall short of fuel economy standards. Tesla has a thriving side business selling 'regulatory credits' to other automakers to make up for their shortfalls. Musk has downplayed the importance of the credits business, but the changes would hurt Tesla as it reels from boycotts of its cars tied to Musk's time working for Trump. Credit sales jumped by a third to $595 million in the first three months of the year even as total revenue slumped. Reviving sales President Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk speaks in the Oval Office at the White House. (Source: Associated Press) Musk's foray into right-wing politics cost Tesla sales among the environmentally minded consumers who embraced electric cars and led to boycotts of Tesla showrooms. If Musk has indeed ended his close association with Trump, those buyers could come back, but that's far from certain. ADVERTISEMENT Meanwhile, one analyst speculated earlier this year that Trump voters in so-called red counties could buy Teslas 'in a meaningful way'. But he's now less hopeful. 'There are more questions than answers following Thursday developments,' TD Cowen's Itay Michaeli wrote in his latest report, 'and it's still too early to determine any lasting impacts'. Michaeli's stock target for Tesla earlier this year was $388. He has since lowered it to $330. Tesla was trading Friday at $300. Tesla did not respond to requests for comment. Moonshot mess Trump said Thursday that he could cut government contracts to Musk's rocket company, SpaceX, a massive threat to a company that has received billions of federal dollars. 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Musk announced that Saudi Arabia had approved Starlink for some services during a trip with Trump in the Middle East last month. The company has also won a string of other recent deals in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and elsewhere as Trump has threatened tariffs. It's not clear how much politics played a role, and how much is pure business. ADVERTISEMENT On Friday, the Associated Press confirmed that India had approved a key license to Starlink. At least 40% of India's more than 1.4 billion people have no access to the internet. Ad revival interrupted? Big advertisers that fled X after Musk welcomed all manner of conspiracy theories to the social media platform have started to trickle back in recent months, possibly out of fear of a conservative backlash. Musk has called their decision to leave an 'illegal boycott' and sued them, and the Trump administration recently weighed in with a Federal Trade Commission probe into possible coordination among them. Now advertisers may have to worry about a different danger. If Trump sours on X, "there's a risk that it could again become politically radioactive for major brands,' said Sarah Kreps, a political scientist at Cornell University. She added, though, that an 'exodus isn't obvious, and it would depend heavily on how the conflict escalates, how long it lasts and how it ends.'
Techday NZ
5 hours ago
- Techday NZ
US-China chip export debate highlights risks for AI leadership
DeepSeek. TikTok. Taiwan. And a White House shake-up on AI rules. The spiralling US-China technology rivalry landed at the heart of Johns Hopkins University last week, as a panel of top experts and policymakers took to the stage to debate whether restricting exports of advanced semiconductors to China can help the US maintain its edge in the race for artificial intelligence. The discussion, hosted by Open to Debate in partnership with the SNF Agora Institute, comes at a critical time. In Washington, the Trump administration has announced plans to roll back the Biden-era AI Diffusion Rule and introduce new chip export controls targeting China – a move seen by many as a signal that the technology contest between the two superpowers is only intensifying. On one side of the Johns Hopkins debate were Lindsay Gorman, managing director at the German Marshall Fund's Technology Program, and former CIA officer and congressman Will Hurd. They argued the answer is yes: semiconductor controls can give the US a real advantage in the AI race. Gorman pointed to DeepSeek, a Chinese AI model whose CEO has publicly lamented the impact of advanced chip bans. "Money has never been the problem for us. Bans on shipments of advanced chips are the problem. And they have to consume twice the power to achieve the same results," she quoted, highlighting how China's AI advances still depend heavily on imported hardware. "The United States has significant hard computing power advantages – the ability to produce high-end chips, designed specifically for training AI models," Gorman told the audience. She argued that, together with its allies, the US controls a "strategic choke point" on computing power. "Properly implemented controls can have an effect and also have an increasing and compounding effect over time in retarding China's AI advantages and giving the United States a head start," she explained. Will Hurd, who also served on OpenAI's board before running for US president, compared the AI contest to the nuclear arms race. "Artificial intelligence is the equivalent of nuclear fission. Nuclear fission controlled gives you nuclear power… uncontrolled, nuclear weapons can kill everybody," he said. Hurd emphasised the importance of first-mover advantage, warning that the US cannot afford to lose its technological lead. He also highlighted a lack of reciprocity in the tech relationship between the two countries. "Chinese companies like Baidu, DJI, and TikTok operate freely in the US, but American companies are not allowed to operate in China," Hurd pointed out. "If there was a level of reciprocity between our two countries, we wouldn't be here having this debate about chip controls." Yet, on the opposing side, former senior US diplomat Susan Thornton and technology strategist Paul Triolo insisted the US could not outpace China in AI simply by tightening export controls. Triolo argued that the controls are "not working and will not lead to US dominance in AI", describing them as a blunt instrument that creates confusion for industry and disrupts global supply chains. "Most experts believe that Chinese companies are only three months behind US leaders in developing advanced AI models," Triolo said, suggesting any technological gap is vanishingly slim. Thornton, who spent decades at the heart of US-China diplomacy, warned of unintended consequences. "The main thing we should be asking ourselves about this question… is what is the cost benefit of US policy actions?" she said. "We have to face the reality that China is already building AI… a third of the world's top AI scientists are Chinese. China is one third of the entire global technology market. So it's clearly a player." She cautioned that blocking China from critical technology could backfire, hurting US companies, alienating allies and raising the risks around Taiwan, the global centre of advanced chip manufacturing. "Certainly, the one thing we need to do is avoid going to war," Thornton warned. "Taiwan, the most sensitive issue in US-China relations, has now been dragged right into the middle of this AI issue because they're the place that produces all the cutting-edge chips that we're trying to control." Audience members pressed the panel on whether international collaboration on AI safety was possible, and whether the US could ever match China's data advantage, given the size of the Chinese population and its permissive data environment. Hurd conceded that "the US will always have less data because we have a little thing called civil liberties," but argued that superior algorithms and privacy-protective machine learning could level the playing field. For Triolo, the dynamic nature of the technology means that attempts to wall off China are self-defeating. "There are many ways to get to different ends. The controls have forced Chinese companies to work together, develop innovations, and become more competitive both domestically and globally," he said. Gorman, in closing, rejected what she called "a defeatism that says America can't out-compete China or slow its progress". "Our companies are doing well. There isn't an issue here with demand, it's with supply. Doing better means that we have to throw what we can at this problem now with a smart application of tools," she argued. But Thornton had the last word, urging caution. "Making the AI competition with China a zero-sum game, not only will not work, it is dangerous," she said. "We should focus on the things that are going to matter to our children and their children, which is the long-term AI competition, which if not constrained and bounded by international agreements and by cooperation among countries… it'll be a very dangerous world."
Newsroom
6 hours ago
- Newsroom
The secret memoir of .. Jacinda Ardern
THE PRESCHOOL YEARS My childhood was happy, but I became aware that others were not so well-off. At daycare I campaigned for longer nap times. Nothing came of it. THE PRIMARY SCHOOL YEARS I was a sensitive child. The sight of a rainbow always made me cry. The colours were so lovely but they faded so fast. In some ways the rainbow was a metaphor for death, and confirmed that life is a vale of tears, but change is only possible if we believe in a better tomorrow and I threw myself into conducting a science project on the best ways to catch a rainbow. Nothing came of it. THE CABBAGE YEARS I got an afterschool job at the Golden Kiwi takeaways in Morrinsville. My mum taught me how to wrap a cabbage in training for wrapping up fish and chips. I got very good at wrapping that cabbage. I wrapped it in newspapers, and for variety I would sometimes wrap it in pillowslips, sheets, and blankets. I got to know that cabbage well, and we bonded. It was no ordinary cabbage. I felt it was destined for great things and I suppose I saw myself in that cabbage. I took it with me when I entered politics and for a while it took pride of place on my desk when I became Prime Minister. I would consult it for major political decisions. It was a sounding board. But it had greater significance. I thought of it as New Zealand, which I wanted to wrap in layers of kindness. Until one day it disappeared. The cabbage was never found. I cannot bring myself to this day to name the person who I think took it and did goodness knows what to it. But the publisher has insisted. A pox on David Cunliffe. THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF SOCIALIST YOUTH YEARS The publisher has insisted that I don't remember much about it. THE KIWIBUILD YEARS Housing minister Phil Twyford said to me one day, 'I have a dream.' 'Tell me your dream,' I said to him. 'I have a dream of building 100,000 new homes,' he said. 'That's wonderful.' 'In my dream the houses are warm and well-built,' he said. 'Do they have flowers on the windowsill in your dream?' 'Yes, I think so,' he said. I reminded him about our conversation a few months later but he said he was busy, and legged it. I never saw him again. THE COVID YEARS It's not something I like to dwell on but a virus got loose and infected many, many people in the community. It was a dark time. It divided families. It was a sad sight. They tore up lawns. They tore up concrete. They set trees on fire. But there was no vaccine on Earth to cure the Stupid-19 virus which caused them to go mad. Since then the virus has only deepened, and further deranged its feral victims. I miss New Zealand and long to go home but I don't know whether that will ever be possible. THE AMERICAN YEARS Everyone in America has been so nice and so welcoming. They are very open to new ideas. I have no opinion on socialism, Trump, or Gaza, but I have headed up a very important and far-reaching humanities programme at Harvard. The students are enthusiastic and Oprah has given it her blessing. Neve has enrolled, too. I call the programme, Catch Your Rainbow.
