Latest news with #BigLie
Time of India
13 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
How Sam Altman replaced Elon Musk: From calling Donald Trump "unfit to be President and a threat to US national security" to becoming his go-to man for AI
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has emerged as President Trump's primary AI advisor after strategically outmaneuvering rival Elon Musk , marking a dramatic reversal from his previous harsh criticism of the president. Altman, who once compared Trump to Hitler and called him "an unprecedented threat to America," now enjoys regular White House access and influence over crucial AI policy decisions, according to The Wall Street Journal. The transformation culminated in June when Altman dined with Trump at his New Jersey golf club, with the president introducing him as "a very brilliant man" to applauding members. This warm reception contrasts sharply with Altman's earlier exclusion from Mar-a-Lago meetings and relegation to the inauguration overflow room rather than the main stage with fellow tech CEOs. Altman's strategic pivot pays off as Musk relationship deteriorates Altman's rise coincided with Musk's spectacular departure from Trump's inner circle in May, following disagreements over the president's "Big Beautiful Bill" spending legislation. The Tesla CEO's public criticism escalated into what the BBC described as "a vicious public spat" where Trump threatened to "put DOGE on Elon" and suggested the billionaire might need to "head back home to South Africa". Altman capitalized on this opening by quietly building relationships through influential MAGA lobbyist Jeff Miller and Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita, while securing backing from Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, the Journal reported. His $1 million inauguration donation helped secure access, leading to the high-profile announcement of the $500 billion Stargate AI infrastructure partnership. Political transformation from Democrat to Trump ally The OpenAI chief's political evolution has been striking. In 2016, he endorsed Hillary Clinton and wrote that " Donald Trump represents an unprecedented threat to America," comparing Trump's tactics to Hitler's Big Lie strategy, ABC News reported. He donated $200,000 to Joe Biden's 2024 reelection campaign and praised Democratic supporter Reid Hoffman for preventing Trump's 2020 reelection. Altman's shift began during the Biden administration when he grew disillusioned with Democratic economic and AI policies. He warned government contacts that Covid-era stimulus would cause inflation and considered the CHIPS Act's $50 billion semiconductor investment "laughably small," according to the Wall Street Journal. The Biden administration's chip export restrictions also thwarted his plans to build AI infrastructure in the Middle East. By July 2024, Altman posted on X that he was "no longer a Democrat," explaining the party had moved so far left it left him "politically homeless." He later acknowledged that "watching [Trump] more carefully recently has really changed my perspective on him," telling associates he regretted his harsh earlier criticism. Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bennet recently sent Altman a letter questioning whether his Trump donation was meant to "curry favor and skirt the rules." AI infrastructure agenda drives new alliance Altman's strategy focused on appealing to Trump's builder background and competitive nature, framing OpenAI as the AI leader while advocating for massive government investment in AI infrastructure to compete with China. In June 2024, OpenAI executives met Trump in Las Vegas, demonstrating their then-unreleased Sora video generator and making the case for sweeping aside environmental reviews to accelerate development. The approach resonated immediately. Days later, Trump told podcaster Logan Paul that America needed to "take the lead over China" in AI, noting that "China will produce it because they'll do whatever you have to do, whereas we have environmental impact people." By the Republican National Convention, AI infrastructure became part of Trump's platform. This alignment succeeded where Musk's confrontational style failed, positioning Altman as the administration's key AI partner as Trump prepares to unveil his AI action plan later this month, the Journal reported. AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Brooklyn Center lawyer in Big Lie cases suspended by Minnesota Supreme Court
Chambers of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Courtesy Minnesota Judicial Branch. The Minnesota Supreme Court suspended Susan Shogren Smith from practicing law after finding she named plaintiffs in Big Lie election cases without their consent in 2020, according to a June 5 order. The state's highest court filed the order following a petition for disciplinary action from the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board. The board, which oversees the state's lawyer disciplinary system, alleged Shogren Smith, now 57, committed professional misconduct. '[Shogren Smith's] misconduct is serious,' the court order stated. 'Her misconduct involved not just a lack of competence and failure to communicate with clients, but dishonesty to the courts and disregard for the discipline process.' Shogren Smith did not respond to a phone message. In 2020, the Brooklyn Center attorney represented the conservative group Minnesota Election Integrity Team in five cases that challenged election results. Shogren Smith named Secretary of State Steve Simon and Democratic House candidates as defendants. President Donald Trump and his allies were busy at the time fostering unfounded claims of election fraud in what became known as the Big Lie, i.e., that President Joe Biden didn't actually win the election. The claims were rejected by Trump's own attorney general and dozens of judges. Ramsey County District Court Judge Leonardo Castro presided over four cases, and one was sent to a three-judge panel. The cases, which Smith filed on behalf of 14 plaintiffs, were dismissed with roughly $18,000 in monetary judgement filed against the plaintiffs. The state Supreme Court found that Shogren Smith enlisted the plaintiffs without their consent or even any communication with them. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Shogren Smith selected the 14 people out of a group who had returned affidavits to an email soliciting people to contest Minnesota election results. She drafted the affidavit, and then tacked the responders' names onto lawsuits she filed the next day, according to the order. 'Indeed, at no time either prior to or during the litigation did [Shogren Smith] have any conversations or communications, of any kind, with any of the 14 plaintiffs, none of whom even knew [Shogren Smith's] name,' the court order stated. The plaintiffs didn't speak with the attorney until February 2021. According to the court order, one plaintiff had 'fortuitously discovered through other means' that she was listed as a party in a lawsuit and had a monetary judgement against her. That plaintiff — identified in news reports as Corinne Braun — alerted local authorities and the presiding district court judge. Between a hearing and a decision from the three-judge panel, Shogren Smith was charged $25,000. Once other plaintiffs were aware, nine of the 14 asked to be removed from the proceedings. Shogren Smith became a licensed Minnesota lawyer in 2004, according to state records. In addition to practicing law, she operates a licensed foster home and has been involved in a number of nonprofits, political and otherwise. Among those is Picture A Hero, which delivers family portraits to military personnel who are preparing to deploy. Social media posts from Shogren Smith show her posing in Trump merch and assisting in storm clean-ups with the group We the People are Coming to Save America. The Minnesota Supreme Court determined Shogren Smith's suspension based on four factors: the nature of the misconduct; the cumulative weight of the violations of the rules of professional conduct; harm to the public; and harm to the legal profession. The suspension takes effect 14 days after it was filed, and it also bars Shogren Smith from petitioning for reinstatement for six months. She cannot be reinstated until she pays $25,000 in sanctions she received in 2021, and upon reinstatement she would face two years of probation.
Boston Globe
06-06-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
Here's what Rhode Island's movers and shakers are reading
Here's a rundown. David Cicilline Rhode Island Foundation president and CEO The book traces the slow, insidious, and ultimately deadly impact of the 'Big Lie' on the Jewish residents of a small German village ahead of World War II. It delivers a terrifying lesson about how ordinary people can become desensitized to the growing danger at their doorstep. Advertisement Martha L. Wofford Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island president and CEO Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up Dr. Topol's book provides evidence of how lifestyle, environmental exposure, and our genes and epigenetics impact our health. He shows how dysregulation of our immune response and inflammation is driving major diseases like cancer and autoimmune conditions. As we face an aging population in Rhode Island, and as a nation, Dr. Topol's book provides hope that there is a path to improving health as we age -- through diet, exercise, sleep, social connection, and reducing environmental toxins, combined with ongoing breakthroughs in diagnosing and treating age-related diseases. Laurie White Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce president Advertisement The degree to which Judge Caprio's life's purpose was shaped at a young age by the lessons imparted by his loving parents – particularly his dad, Tup, on the milk truck delivery route on Federal Hill. The book left me in tears. It mirrors my own sentiments about the influence of my mom and dad and the small business they started together in the 1950s (and still exists today.) Judge Caprio vividly takes the reader through the lessons of hard work and everyday acts of compassion that lift your soul. It is no coincidence that he has 25 million followers on social media. These are the lessons that resonate throughout the world. Rele Abiade Consultant My daughters were reading this graphic novel, and we were talking about how it had been banned in Texas. I skimmed through it because I was curious why anyone would be triggered by a book nine-year-olds loved. Of course it was one of the best books I have probably read! The main character is a gifted student who goes to a predominantly white private school and the book explores how he gracefully navigates through social dynamics. I wish I had books like this as a child because I related to Jordan (the main character) and despite some situations it really is a positive story. I think every adult should read it, especially during these interesting political times where diversity and inclusion is no longer seen as a necessity by some. Guess what? It is! Advertisement Cortney M. Nicolato United Way of Rhode Island president and CEO It talks about perseverance and the power that love can have on someone. In times like this, I want to spend my spare time being inspired and celebrating love and joy wherever possible. Kelli J. Armstrong Salve Regina University president Colin is a resident scholar here at Salve and leads our Nationhood Lab project. I find his ideas to be absolutely brilliant. In 'Union,' he describes how important it is for the US to have a common narrative, one that could hold its rival regional cultures together. Colin is an historian, and his ability to illuminate how we have evolved as a nation and how these patterns are affecting our current divisions is fascinating. Neil Steinberg Rhode Island Life Science HubBoard chair My preferred genre is the thriller category; it started with Robert Ludlum many years ago. Marcela Betancur Latino Policy Institute executive director I am a huge fan of mysteries and thrillers, and this one kept me on my toes the whole time. It's rare when I get to the end of a book without knowing what's happening or 'who did it' - but this one did it! This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you'd like to receive it via email Monday through Friday, . Advertisement Dan McGowan can be reached at
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Can Josh Hawley out-Trump Trump with the working person?
If you offered me half of Elon Musk's holdings to tell you what Josh Hawley truly believes, I would not be able to cash the check. But after watching our senior U.S. senator for eight years now, I can say with confidence that he likes to stand out in a crowd. By being first to object to the 2020 Electoral College results, then claiming he never tried to overturn the election that Joe Biden won, he did more harm than we'll ever be able to calculate. But there he was, leading the way, even if it was to perdition. With that infamous raised fist on Jan. 6, he tried to rally the rioters he then bolted away from. But hey, by that afternoon, many more Americans knew his name. Our man Hawley played a big role in the Big Lie: The risk that Donald Trump would not leave office after his defeat in 2020 really only became real, according to the 2021 book 'Peril,' by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, when Hawley said he would object to the Electoral College certification. In the traumatic hours after the attack on the Capitol, Hawley stood off to himself on the Senate floor, as The Star reported at the time. According to the book, 'No one spoke to Hawley, who many of them blamed for instigating the riot by announcing his opposition to the certification a week earlier.' Eventually, Sens. Ted Cruz and Roy Blunt asked him what he was going to do, and 'even with the carnage and push from some colleagues to stand down, Hawley decided he would keep his objection to both Arizona and Pennsylvania. He would remain in lockstep with Trump. When told of his decision, many of his Republican colleagues groaned. … Other Republicans would surely stick with Hawley, fearful of being seen as out of step with Trump's voters.' So what to make, then, of Hawley's recent declarations that he would never, no not ever, vote to cut Medicaid, as the Big Beautiful Bill currently does in a big, ugly way? This is quite a turnaround for someone who tried so hard to repeal Obamacare, and to fight Medicaid expansion. Lately, Hawley has started saying that cutting this precious program for the most vulnerable is one line he'd never cross, and that what's more, it's one that Trump wouldn't cross, either. This is clever, because how can Trump call him out for quoting Trump's own campaign promise to the public? Trump pushed hard for the House to pass the 'Big Beautiful Bill,' cuts and all, which it did. And when Hawley says Trump would never sign his own BBB if it included Medicaid cuts, well, sure he wouldn't. Hawley is right that cutting Medicaid would be a disaster for low-income families and the disabled and those with autism and in nursing homes. It's also incontrovertibly true that such cuts would hit Missourians particularly hard: An analysis by KFF Health News earlier this month found that Missouri was one of six states, along with Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Carolina and West Virginia that would suffer the most. A recent front-page piece in The New York Times suggested that Hawley the culture warrior has also been 'less noisily' on the side of the little guy all along. So much less noisily that I can't say we ever noticed the effects of all those years of effort in Missouri. The graduate of Rockhurst High, Stanford and Yale Law, who clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts and spent a gap year teaching at St. Paul's in London, does, like Trump, who was a millionaire in grade school, talk an awful lot about how much the elites hate us regular folks. At Hawley's Senate campaign launch in 2018, I was still capable of disappointment at hearing him start right in with this us-versus-them golden oldie: 'The liberal elites who call themselves our leaders refer to us as flyover country,' he said. 'They deride not just our location but our whole way of living.' But, that's a song that always gets them out on the dance floor, and maybe the aggrievement was genuine. The Times piece about him said that as a longtime populist, Hawley had from his earliest days in office done things like go after opioid manufacturers as attorney general of our state. He did file lawsuits against them, it's true, and maybe he would have done so anyway. But he did that, as The Star reported, after discussion with the Washington political consultants who were involved in running his office and then his U.S. Senate campaign to get him some national buzz. And this was after his soon-to-be Senate opponent, Claire McCaskill, had already launched a Senate investigation into the opioid industry. My point is really that we have heard many words but seen few results from Josh Hawley, man of the people. If our senior senator really wants to, as a former aide to Bernie Sanders told The New York Times, break up the cozy relationship between his party and corporate America that's gone on since Reagan was president, does that mean he'll challenge Trump for selling access and demanding fealty from CEOs who then cash in? Rhetorical question. In some ways, what Hawley is doing reminds me of the recent moves from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is breaking with his party and running to the center on trans athletes, limits on Medi-Cal for undocumented immigrants and declarations that he's going to stop 'funding failure' when it comes to curbing homelessness. Only, where Newsom is concerned, everyone and his puppy sees what he's doing as a bald political calculation in preparation for a potential '28 presidential run. He's getting nothing but noogies, both from his own party and from Republicans, for tacking to the center, while Hawley has been praised and reappraised by Democrats for simply saying he wouldn't cut Medicaid. The Wall Street Journal did disapprovingly note 'Josh Hawley's Medicaid Switcheroo.' And on X, he's being pressured to change his mind. Of course, if Missourians lost their health care, and Grandma couldn't stay in the nursing home, those giving him grief now would feel differently. And if that's what he's betting on, then he's right. Hawley's ambition is one of the only other things I know for sure about him. In his own recent essay in The Times, he made it seem that on the issue of Medicaid cuts, this is him and Trump against the bad guys. 'Mr. Trump has promised working-class tax cuts and protection for working-class social insurance, such as Medicaid,' he wrote. 'But now a noisy contingent of corporatist Republicans — call it the party's Wall Street wing — is urging Congress to ignore all that and get back to the old-time religion: corporate giveaways, preferences for capital and deep cuts to social insurance.' I can practically hear the score to 'Les Mis' in the background, calling us to the barricades, can't you? Now that the Republican House has passed the bill with those very same deep cuts — deeper, actually — it will be up to the Senate to stop the worst of it. Far less surprisingly, Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas and Susan Collins of Maine have concerns about the bill, and Sen. Ron Johnson thinks it doesn't cut spending enough. They have until July to figure it out. Maybe Hawley won't backtrack at this point. And trying to out-Trump Trump with the working person, if that's the goal, would not actually be that hard. But if he really wants to become Trump's heir, and make that dreamed-of presidential run in the way that he hopes, he'll have to start doing more than talk.
Wall Street Journal
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Now They Speak Up About Biden? C'mon, Man
Regarding 'A Reckoning for the Biden Coverup' (Review & Outlook, May 19). If Donald Trump's assertion without evidence that he actually won the 2020 election is known as 'the Big Lie,' what should we call the Democratic Party's assertion that its occupant of the White House was physically and mentally fit for office, 'The Great Malarkey' or 'Weekend at Biden's'? Paul E. Greenberg
