Good morning.
Elon Musk leads a consortium of buyers that on Monday submitted a bid of $97.4bn for “all assets” of the nonprofit that controls OpenAI, with Musk escalating his feud with OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman.
Altman posted on X that the bid wouldn’t be accepted. OpenAI, which operates ChatGPT, was co-founded as a nonprofit in 2015 by Altman and Musk. It has been working to restructure itself away from its unique nonprofit standing.
Musk, the world’s richest man, left OpenAI in 2019 and began his personal AI firm, xAI. He has since tussled with Altman over the path of the corporate: he sued OpenAI over the corporate’s restructuring plans final 12 months, dropped the go well with, then refiled it.
-
What did the bidders say? “If Sam Altman and the present OpenAI, Inc. board of directors are intent on becoming a fully for-profit corporation, it is vital that the charity be fairly compensated for what its leadership is taking away from it: control over the most transformative technology of our time,” mentioned Marc Toberoff, the legal professional representing the buyers.
-
How did Altman reply? Altman posted on X: “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74bn if you want.” Musk purchased Twitter in 2022 for $44bn and renamed it X.
Left for lifeless, Canada’s Liberal social gathering sees resurgence after Trump threats
After almost 10 years of Liberal rule in Canada, a deepening price of residing disaster had soured public assist for Justin Trudeau and pollsters predicted the Conservative social gathering, led by Pierre Poilievre, would seize a convincing majority of seat. However since Donald Trump urged the US may take over Canada – with threats starting from “economic coercion” to outright annexation – the temper has shifted, and Canada has seen a groundswell of visceral patriotism. One ballot, from Ipsos, discovered that the Conservatives had shed roughly 12 factors of assist inside two weeks, and one other discovered that 40% of Canadians felt Mark Carney – a Liberal and the previous governor of the Financial institution of England – was finest suited to face off towards Trump, with solely 26% saying Poilievre.
-
What are analysts saying now? “Now the election isn’t going to be about Trudeau,” mentioned Éric Grenier, a political analyst on the Writ. “It will most likely be about the next four years – and who is best able to deal with Trump.”
Trump says Gaza ceasefire must be cancelled if all Israeli hostages not freed
Donald Trump has warned that if all of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza are usually not returned by Saturday at midday he would suggest canceling the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and let “all hell break loose”.
Talking to reporters, the president additionally mentioned he may withhold help to Jordan and Egypt if these international locations don’t take Palestinian refugees from Gaza.
Trump’s feedback got here after Hamas mentioned it was delaying the discharge of hostages indefinitely over “violations” of the ceasefire deal, prompting Israel’s defence minister to place the nation’s army on alert with orders to arrange for “any scenario in Gaza”.
-
What did the president say? “But as far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday 12 o’clock – I think it’s an appropriate time – I would say cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out,” Trump mentioned.
-
What does it imply for the ceasefire? Hamas, Israeli and Arab officers have already warned that the ceasefire is at a breaking level, and Trump’s radical intervention may stoke fears that Washington doesn’t have any intent to proceed with the phased deal.
In different information …
-
Israeli police raided the main Palestinian-owned bookshop in occupied East Jerusalem and detained two house owners, in arrests that rights teams and intellectuals condemned for fostering a “culture of fear” amongst Palestinians.
-
Beneath orders from Trump, billions of gallons of irrigation water have been laid to waste in California’s thirsty agricultural hub this month, a transfer that left water specialists shocked.
-
A bus carrying greater than 70 passengers veered off a freeway bridge in Guatemala Metropolis, killing a minimum of 55 folks.
-
The performer in Kendrick Lamar’s Tremendous Bowl present who was ejected after unfurling a pro-Sudanese and -Palestinian flag is not going to face authorized fees, police mentioned, however he’s banned for all times from NFL occasions.
-
A pair in London received a refund on a $40m mansion, after suing the property developer over a moth infestation.
Stat of the day: Almost $500m of meals help susceptible to spoilage after Trump USAid cuts
Almost half a billion {dollars} of meals help is susceptible to spoilage following the choice of Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s “Doge” company to make cuts to USAid, in response to an inspector common report. The choice has already induced chaos and devastation, similar to in Malawi, some of the aid-dependent international locations.
Don’t miss this: Breaking Unhealthy, Trade and Euphoria’s makers on how TV fakes medication
Weed? Moss tied in thread. Crack? Natural shea butter. Cocaine bricks? Shrink-wrapped foam blocks. Designers reveal the secrets and techniques of faking medication onscreen. Breaking Unhealthy’s manufacturing designer mentioned the faux meth was so lifelike, it generally acquired stolen from set.
Local weather verify: ‘Social network’ that attacked pesticide critics shuts down after Guardian investigation
A Missouri-based firm that profiled tons of of meals and environmental well being advocates has mentioned it has halted operations, amid backlash after a Guardian investigation. The corporate, v-Fluence, mentioned it will shut its database of greater than 500 environmental advocates, scientists, politicians and others seen as opponents of pesticides and genetically modified crops.
Final Factor: ‘The Sims is a lot bleaker than I remember’
“When EA surprise-dropped a rerelease of The Sims 1 and 2 last weekend to celebrate the series’ 25th anniversary, with all expansions included (my nine-year-old self’s dream) naturally I was compelled to return to my happy place,” writes Bex April Could. However, on returning, she discovered that “The Sims 1 is a capitalist nightmare where survival trumps self-actualisation”.
Enroll
Join the US morning briefing
First Factor is delivered to 1000’s of inboxes each weekday. For those who’re not already signed up, subscribe now.
Get in contact
When you have any questions or feedback about any of our newsletters please e mail newsletters@theguardian.com
