MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Another week, another pair of records for Miami quarterback Cam Ward — breaking 40-year-old marks by Bernie Kosar in both cases. Ward, Miami's Heisman Trophy contender who already holds the Hurricanes' single-season record for touchdown passes and is on pace to break the school mark for completion percentage, on Saturday eclipsed Kosar's school records for both passing yards in a season and completions in a season. Recommended Videos Ward's 13-yard completion to Damien Martinez with 1:27 left in the second quarter gave him 3,643 yards for the season. Kosar's mark of 3,642 yards was set in 1984. Later Saturday, Ward threw a 15-yard pass to Xavier Restrepo for his 263rd completion of the year — topping Kosar's mark of 262, also set in 1984. “Congrats #CamWard,” Kosar posted on social media. “U R Awesome.” Ward is on pace to break Miami's single-season completion percentage mark of 65.8% set last year by Tyler Van Dyke. He also is on pace to top the Miami career mark — among those with at least 300 attempts — of 64.3% set by D'Eriq King in 2020 and 2021. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
‘Vanderpump Rules’ Star Scheana Shay Reveals How Taylor Swift Inspired Her Upcoming EPNorth Carolina has interviewed former New England Patriots coach and six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick for its head coaching position, two people with knowledge of the situation said Thursday. Both people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the school isn't commenting publicly on its search. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get updates and player profiles ahead of Friday's high school games, plus a recap Saturday with stories, photos, video Frequency: Seasonal Twice a weekDave & Buster's Entertainment Inc. stock underperforms Thursday when compared to competitors
The Government will block new incinerators if they do not help meet environmental objectives under rules unveiled on Monday. Developers will have to show that their project either helps reduce the amount of non-recyclable waste going to landfill, or replaces an older, less efficient incinerator. The move forms part of the Government’s drive to increase recycling rates, which have held at about 45% of household waste since 2015. Environment minister Mary Creagh said: “For far too long, the nation has seen its recycling rates stagnate and relied on burning household waste, rather than supporting communities to keep resources in use for longer. “That ends today, with clear conditions for new energy from waste plants – they must be efficient and support net zero and our economic growth mission, before they can get the backing needed to be built.” Developers will also have to ensure their incinerators are ready for carbon capture technology, and demonstrate how the heat they produce can be used to help cut heating bills for households. The Government expects that its “crackdown” on new incinerators will mean only a limited number are built, while still reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill and enabling the country to process the waste it produces. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the country was almost at the point where it had enough waste facilities to handle non-recyclable rubbish, and so had limited need for new incinerators. But the proposals stop short of the plans included in the Conservatives’ 2024 manifesto, which committed to a complete ban on new incinerators due to their “impact on local communities” and declining demand as recycling increased.
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An image released on Dec 5 (left) show a man with his mask lowered. Images released on Dec 4 showed a person in a dark hooded jacket and a gray backpack. NEW YORK – Authorities have released two images they said showed the face of the man they believe fatally shot the chief executive of one of the largest health insurers in the country. Investigators seemed closer to identifying the gunman on Dec 5, a day after the shooting took place outside a hotel in midtown Manhattan. While investigators have not established a motive for the killing, the gunman appeared to have targeted the executive, Mr Brian Thompson, 50, of UnitedHealthcare, authorities said, waiting for him on the morning of Dec 4 before firing several shots that left him crumpled and dying on the pavement. Authorities said they had several leads and were focusing on a man who stayed at an Upper West Side hostel. Investigators were also looking into the purchase of a gun in Connecticut that resembled the weapon used in the shooting. Police said they were investigating messages found on bullet casings at the scene of the shooting. The words include “delay” and “deny,” possible references to ways that health insurance companies seek to avoid paying patients’ claims. The two images released on Dec 5 show a man with his mask lowered. The images released on Dec 4, taken from surveillance videos, showed a person in a dark hooded jacket, a black face-covering and a gray backpack. At the hostel, the suspect shared a room with two other men unknown to him, according to a senior law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation. On Dec 5, a scrum of journalists gathered outside the HI New York City Hostel, near 103rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue. A police flyer about the manhunt was pinned on a nearby lamppost. Mayor Eric Adams, on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” said he believed investigators were on the right path and were “going to apprehend this person.” Authorities had still not learned the name of the suspect, but were pursuing several leads, according to a senior law enforcement official. Efforts to compare some possible names for the suspect with the photos released Thursday were inconclusive. The brazen killing of Mr Brian Thompson has unleashed a torrent of criticism of insurance companies over claim denials, in particular the one he led, UnitedHealthcare. PHOTO: AFP Detectives, dogs and drones fanned out across the city after the shooting in an attempt to trace the movements of the suspected gunman, whom police described as “proficient” with firearms. Officers recovered a cellphone near the scene of the attack and were exploring whether it is connected to the shooting. The gunman appears to have used a suppressor, an attachment long associated with Hollywood hit men but rarely seen in real-life murders. “In all of my years of law enforcement, I have never seen a silencer before,” Mayor Eric Adams said. Sales of them have skyrocketed in popularity – nearly 5 million are registered in the United States, up from 285,000 in 2011. The gray backpack carried by the gunman appears to be one sold by Peak Design, a company that specialises in bags that sell for up to US$330 (S$442). The police have not identified what kind of backpack the gunman had, but at a news conference, Mr Joseph Kenny, the chief of detectives, described it as “distinctive,” and the founder of Peak Design called the Police Department’s tip line to identify it as one of his products. Police offered a $10,000 reward for information about Mr Thompson’s killing, and said they were also exploring his background and social media for clues. Mr Thompson had recently received several threats, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation. Police were still investigating the source and nature of those threats, the official said. The brazen killing of Mr Thompson has unleashed a torrent of criticism of insurance companies over claim denials, in particular the one he led, UnitedHealthcare. As one of the nation’s largest health insurers, covering more than 50 million people, the company has battled a range of complaints and investigations from patients, doctors and lawmakers for its denial of medical claims. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. Read 3 articles and stand to win rewards Spin the wheel now
Liverpool news as Pep Guardiola survives nightmare Manchester City scenario but still remains on the brink of a ban Pep Guardiola will, barring any personal surprises or changes, be on the touchline at Anfield next weekend for Liverpool's blockbuster clash with Manchester City. This in itself is nothing out of the ordinary but it wasn't always certain. Like Arne Slot, who enters Sunday's away Premier League match at Southampton with two yellow cards to his name, Guardiola went into the eventual 4-0 loss to Tottenham on the brink of a ban. Given how firey matches between Spurs and City have been in recent times, it was not a given that Guardiola would be able to simply avoid being booked. He is often extremely animated during City matches no matter the state of play. When his side conspired to draw 3-3 with Tottenham last season he and Erling Haaland were left aghast and furious late on. Similarly, when it comes to facing Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp , Guardiola has been at his most energetic and expressive. It does not and has not always transpired to being a positive thing either. The now memed 'twice' image of Guardiola losing it on Merseyside was in a defeat for his side, for example. City having Guardiola there to look over closely is surely an advantage, though, especially at a time whereby the team's confidence is so brittle. On Saturday night they fell to a fifth defeat in a row, the first time that has happened at the club since 2006. It left them five points behind Liverpool already with the chance of that rising to eight. When the two meet next weekend that gap could be extended to up to 11 points . Guardiola and City know they cannot afford it to get that far. For him to have been within a simple miss step of being in the stands for the game is genuinely massive and an undercurrent to the game which has gone without much attention. Managers and bookings do not go together as commonly as players, hence why the bar for a ban is three rather than five. The impact is still significant, especially with Guardiola knowing in the back of his mind (or perhaps quite near the front of it), that it is Liverpool next. It may or may not have been in his thoughts directly as Ange Postecoglou lead Tottenham to a famous win at the Etihad Stadium. Spurs crushed their opponents on the break and slided through a non-existent midfield time and time again. Instead of being a ball of fury in the technical area, Guardiola was mystified and downbeat. He wasn't shown a third yellow card of the season and therefore avoids a scenario in which he would have been banned for the Liverpool game. To that extent it is job done but that is a minor victory on a day of questions for the Spaniard. Just over 12 months ago he wasn't as careful. Ultimately it didn't make a massive difference but this was something else. Premier League managers are being punished more and more by referees and fourth officials. Already this season there have been four (Andoni Iraola, Steve Cooper, Nuno Espirito Santo, and Russell Martin) to serve a suspension. Slot would become the fifth when City visit should he be picked up for anything on Sunday at St Mary's. He is currently level with Fabian Hurzeler, Enzo Maresca, Marco Silva, Julen Lopetegui, and Gary O'Neil, plus Guardiola, of course, on two. That means over half the league's head coaches have at least two yellow cards across the opening 12 matchdays. This is the tightrope Guardiola walked on Saturday and will continue to balance on in the Liverpool match. Just getting to that game will be a boost for City when they need it most.Once the NFL season ends, former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is expected to have his pick of potential new employers. After taking a year off from coaching and stepping into several sports media roles, Belichick should be one of, if not the hottest free agent on the coaching market. While he’s been exclusively linked to both the Jacksonville Jaguars and Dallas Cowboys by various analysts this season (neither team actually has a head-coaching vacancy right now), three more jobs could become available — the Chicago Bears, Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants. The New York Jets and New Orleans Saints likely won’t bring back their current interim coaches either, putting them in play for Belichick’s services. But according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, a new team that hasn’t been previously linked to Belichick this season, could be a surprise contender for him. “In a recent episode of the ‘Scoop City’ podcast, my co-host Chase Daniel and I discussed the possibility of Belichick taking over Jacksonville in 2025, should Doug Pederson get fired,” Russini wrote . “While Belichick has maintained a strong relationship with Jaguars ownership, it’s anticipated he would seek changes in the front office, particularly regarding current general manager Trent Baalke. “The other two teams that came up frequently: The Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (should those jobs open up).” Bob Breidenbach / USA TODAY NETWORK Of the teams jockeying for Belichick, Tampa Bay seems like a curveball. It’s been widely reported that Belichick wants complete control of whichever team he takes over, which make the Jets, who fired GM Joe Douglas days ago, and the Jaguars, who reportedly want to move on from Trent Baalke obvious landing spots. However, Jason Licht has been the Bucs GM since 2014 and it seems highly unlikely they’d fire him just to give Belichick total autonomy. But if he’ll agree to just coach, Belichick would make an intriguing candidate for the Bucs, who are just 21-23 under current head coach Todd Bowles. Despite back-to-back NFC South titles and two playoff appearances in 2022 and 2023, Bowles has just one winning season and 47.7 winning percentage. If Tampa, which is currently 4-6, misses out on the playoffs this year, Bowles could find himself looking for a new job come January. Related: Bill Belichick’s 23-Year-Old Girlfriend May Keep Him from Coaching in NFL Again
Ceramics decorate this porcelain "palace" outside Jingdezhen, a city known as the porcelain capital of China. Ming Dynasty vases and ceramics are used in the rotunda. Doreen Siow JINGDEZHEN, Jiangxi – Driving into Jingdezhen, it looks like any other inland Chinese provincial city that has rampantly urbanised: concrete infrastructure and superhighways sprawled against a rustic landscape of paddy fields and mountains. But I start noticing lamp posts and road dividers clad in blue-and-white porcelain, which look a little out of place in the grey city, but point to Jingdezhen’s past as the world’s porcelain capital. The dusty city in south-eastern Jiangxi province has been producing porcelain wares for more than 2,000 years. It is surrounded by the Gaoling Mountain range, which is rich in the kaolin clay deposits needed for the finest porcelain. According to China’s imperial records, when Emperor Shizong of Liao (947-951) heard that the kaolin here produced ceramics that was “white like jade, bright as a mirror, thin as paper” and “sounds like a bell”, he arranged the Gaoling mines to supply porcelain exclusively to royalty. Royal kilns were built and over time, the porcelain was also exported. Chinese porcelain made its way to Persia around the ninth century. At the same time, Jingdezhen artisans became acquainted with Persian cobalt, which turned a vivid blue when fired under high temperatures. China’s blue-and-white ceramics became a hugely popular colour combination for decorating tableware. From the Tang Dynasty (618-907) onwards, the porcelain became a major export for China that was copied globally. At its peak, Jingdezhen employed more than a million men, women and children in 3,000 kilns in the 18th century. The manufacturing process was split into areas of specialisation. Some workers focused on mixing clay, for instance, while others fired the kilns. Artisans drew patterns, painted and carved. This division of labour continues today, though many processes have changed with the times. In Jingdezhen, even the lamp posts are clad in porcelain. PHOTO: DOREEN SIOW Today, most workshops have abandoned the kaolin from nearby mountains for purer deposits in other provinces. Electric kilns have replaced wood-fired ones. Political upheaval and mass production in factories elsewhere are among the reasons for the diminished dominance of Jingdezhen porcelain. But the craftsmanship never left the city, and the tradition is slowly being revived. While state-owned porcelain factories have shuttered, many have been converted into art hubs housing private studios and workshops. Rising affluence in China has brought new customers, while the government’s move in 2010 to promote tourism has resulted in domestic and overseas visitors flocking in. More than eight million tourists visited Jingdezhen during China’s week-long National Day holiday in 2023, according to the Jiangxi Department of Culture and Tourism. The city has also attracted over 30,000 Jing Drifters – young Chinese migrants escaping the stress of life in major metropolises like Beijing and Guangzhou. They are drawn to Jingdezhen’s lower rents, slower pace and opportunities to pursue art, set up cafes or discover themselves. Here, design lovers, influencers and travellers can marvel at porcelain rotundas, spend time at repurposed brick kilns-turned-art hubs and cafes, and shop for ceramics. Taoxichuan Ceramic Art Avenue is a popular spot to shop for ceramics. PHOTO: DOREEN SIOW Taoxichuan Ceramic Art Avenue is an art mall converted from an old porcelain factory. Parts of the brick kilns and chimneys have been retained, while the original factories have been repurposed into art studios, shops selling ceramics, eateries and open spaces for entertainment. In the evenings, the bustling plaza is filled with stalls helmed by young potters and entrepreneurs selling ceramics. Salesman Wang Xiaowei says: “Most of the factories and workshops in Jingdezhen today are small. The scale is not large because it is still mainly manual production here. There are many small family-run workshops.” He works at Qi He Tang, a porcelain shop outside Jingdezhen Sculpture Porcelain Factory, a ceramics bazaar built on the former site of a state-owned factory. His family runs a factory with some 20 employees, mostly relatives. He says porcelain tableware can be mass-produced by machines in Jingdezhen, but items such as vases and tea sets are still mostly finished by hand. “The tea sets are mass-produced, but the patterns are painted by hand,” he adds. “So, it is more expensive, and the output is low.” Another highlight is the beautiful Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum, located in the restored historical neighbourhood of Taoyangli. Next to it are the ruins of an imperial Ming Dynasty kiln. Designed by Studio Zhu Pei, the award-winning museum was built using recycled kiln bricks and new ones. Recycled bricks are plentiful in the city, as the kilns are demolished regularly to ensure top thermal performance. The archaeological museum is composed of buildings shaped like old Chinese kilns, and houses ceramic relics and shards found in the city. It is popular with tourists and international students keen to learn about pottery and Chinese ceramic culture, says Ms Zhu Ziqi, an English-speaking guide who graduated from the Jingdezhen Ceramics University. “This year also marks the 60th anniversary of China-France diplomatic relations. So, there are also many French people visiting,” she adds. Ming Dynasty vases and ceramics are used in the rotunda of Yu Ermei’s porcelain palace. PHOTO: DOREEN SIOW Just outside Jingdezhen is a porcelain “palace” built by grandmother and retired ceramicist Yu Ermei. The “palace” features three-storey rotundas covered from floor to ceiling in porcelain shards. More than 60,000 colourful ceramic wares, including a pair of precious Ming vases, decorate the windows, doors, ceilings and walls. The attraction is a hot spot for domestic tourists and youngsters, many dressed in traditional clothing or hanfu for photographs. Jingdezhen, which once made ceramics for royalty and dominated the world stage, has successfully transformed itself to be cool and relevant again in 21st-century China. Visitors dressed in blue and white hanfu to match the decor. PHOTO: DOREEN SIOW Different types of Jingdezhen porcelain Jingdezhen ceramicists today make a huge variety of wares – from delicate Chinese tea sets to modern Western-style tableware to contemporary art pieces commissioned by museums, casinos and other entities. A visit to the studio of ceramic artist Zhu Legeng, a grand master in China’s ceramic art world, shows how he is able to mould and fire clay into fantastical objects of art with vivid colours. Born in Jingdezhen, Zhu studied at the Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute and researched the craftsmanship, history and culture of ceramics. In an interview with China Daily, the artist noted that in ancient China, pottery and agriculture went hand in hand. “Many Chinese ceramics were products of agricultural civilisation,” he said. Oxen and other farm animals are common motifs in Chinese ceramics. PHOTO: DOREEN SIOW Zhu often uses domesticated animals as motifs in his works, and his studio displays many ox and horse sculptures in all shapes and sizes. Some of the ox sculptures are made from a special clay fired to a beautiful rustic orange hue with light gold streaks. The creations have a distinct Chinese aesthetic. Ceramics salesman Wang Xiaowei says the city mainly makes four types of porcelain: qinghua porcelain (blue-and-white porcelain), linglong porcelain with pierced ornamentation, famille rose porcelain and enamel colour-glazed porcelain. Qinghua is regarded as the most famous and popular of the four styles. Many Chinese households have blue-and-white dinner sets and vases. The main raw material, cobalt oxide, turns blue when fired at a high temperature. The patterns in linglong porcelain emerge when viewed against the light. PHOTO: DOREEN SIOW Linglong porcelain features carved patterns filled with a translucent glaze. This technique is used in Chinese tableware, where rice grain-sized shapes are hollowed out and a glaze applied several times to cover them. When held against the light, a pattern emerges. High-temperature colour glazes and colour enamel porcelain are also favoured by Jingdezhen ceramicists, who make teacups and vases with this technique, often using shapes and styles from the Song and Ming Dynasties. A red porcelain teacup in a floral shape popular in the Song Dynasty. PHOTO: DOREEN SIOW Mr Wang’s shop sells handmade, flower-shaped enamel red porcelain teacups, a style from the Song Dynasty. “The five-mouth teacup was from the Song period, when the people loved flowers,” he says. “These cups are made entirely by hand. Our relatives make it in small workshops, so the output is small and only one to two people are involved.” Famille rose porcelain, a technique brought to China in the 17th century from Europe, is when white porcelain ware is fired with a translucent glaze. Colours are applied by hand before the items are fired again. Such porcelain was especially popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Large quantities of these wares were exported from Jingdezhen to Europe, the United States and Singapore. A Peranakan porcelain cup made in the famille rose style. PHOTO: DOREEN SIOW The famille rose porcelain in Singapore was made specially for the wealthy Straits-born Chinese community. Straits Chinese or Nonya porcelain is characterised by exuberant colours, and often features phoenix and tree peony motifs. The Singapore Peranakan Museum has a small but beautiful collection of Nonya porcelain made in Jingdezhen. There is also a selection for sale in the museum’s souvenir shop, as well as in the household department of Tangs. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. Read 3 articles and stand to win rewards Spin the wheel nowBanorte, chaired by Carlos Hank González, is recognized by Google Cloud for accelerating digital innovation in Mexican banking
’Don’t speak’: Marnus loses the plot with ‘worst appeal in history’BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched in downtown Barcelona on Saturday to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in the popular tourist destination. Protesters cut off traffic on main avenues in the city center, holding up homemade signs in Spanish reading “Fewer apartments for investing and more homes for living" and “The people without homes uphold their rights.” The lack of affordable housing has become one of the leading concerns for the southern European Union country, mirroring the housing crunch across many parts of the world, including the United States . Organizers said that over 100,000 had turned out, while Barcelona’s police said they estimated some 22,000 marched. Either way, the throngs of people clogging the streets recalled the massive separatist rallies at the heigh of the previous decade’s Catalan independence movement. Now, social concerns led by housing have displaced political crusades. That is because the average rent for Spain has doubled in last 10 years. The price per square meter has risen from 7.2 euros ($7.5) in 2014 to 13 euros this year, according to the popular online real estate website Idealista. The growth is even more acute in cities like Barcelona and Madrid. Incomes meanwhile have failed to keep up, especially for younger people in a country with chronically high unemployment. Protestor Samuel Saintot said he is “frustrated and scared” after being told by the owners of the apartment he has rented for the past 15 years in Barcelona’s city center that he must vacate the premises. He suspects that the owners want him out so they can renovate it and boost the price. “Even looking in a 20- or 30-kilometer radius outside town, I can’t even find anything within the price range I can afford,” he told The Associated Press. “And I consider myself a very fortunate person, because I earn a decent salary. And even in my case, I may be forced to leave town.” A report by the Bank of Spain indicates that nearly 40% of Spaniards who rent dedicate an average of 40% of their income to paying rents and utilities, compared to the European Union average of 27% of renters who do so. “We are talking about a housing emergency. It means people having many difficulties both in accessing and staying in their homes,” said Ignasi Martí, professor for Esade business school and head of its Dignified Housing Observatory. The rise in rents is causing significant pain in Spain, where traditionally people seek to own their homes. Rental prices have also been driven up by short-term renters including tourists. Many migrants to Spain are also disproportionately hit by the high rents because they often do not have enough savings. Spain is near the bottom end of OECD countries with under 2% of all housing available being public housing for rent. The OECD average is 7%. Spain is far behind France, with 14%, Britain with 16%, and the Netherlands with 34%. Carme Arcarazo, spokesperson for Barcelona’s Tenants Union which helped organize the protest, said that renters should consider a “rent strike” and cease paying their monthly rents in a mass protest movement. “I think we the tenants have understood that this depends on us. That we can’t keep asking and making demands to the authorities and waiting for an answer. We must take the reins of the situation,” Arcarazo told the AP. “So, if they (the owners) won’t lower the rent, then we will force them to do it." The Barcelona protest came a month after tens of thousands rallied against high rents in Madrid. The rising discontent over housing is putting pressure on Spain’s governing Socialist party, which leads a coalition on the national level and is in charge of Catalonia’s regional government and Barcelona’s city hall. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez presided over what the government termed a “housing summit” including government officials and real estate developers last month. But the Barcelona’s Tenants Union boycotted the event, saying it was like calling a summit for curing cancer and inviting tobacco companies to participate. The leading government measure has been a rent cap mechanism that the central government has offered to regional authorities based on a price index established by the housing ministry. Rent controls can be applied to areas deemed to be “highly stressed” by high rental prices. Catalonia was the first region to apply those caps, which are in place in downtown Barcelona. Many locals blame the million of tourists who visit Barcelona, and the rest of Spain, each year for the high prices. Barcelona’s town hall has pledged to completely eliminate the city’s 10,000 so called “tourist apartments,” or dwellings with permits for short-term rents, by 2028.
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NEW YORK (AP) — In a string of visits, dinners, calls, monetary pledges and social media overtures, big tech chiefs — including Apple’s Tim Cook, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos — have joined a parade of business and world leaders in trying to improve their standing with President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office in January. “The first term, everybody was fighting me,” Trump said in remarks at Mar-a-Lago . “In this term, everybody wants to be my friend.” Tech companies and leaders have now poured millions into his inauguration fund, a sharp increase — in most cases — from past pledges to incoming presidents. But what does the tech industry expect to gain out of their renewed relationships with Trump? A clue to what the industry is looking for came just days before the election when Microsoft executives — who’ve largely tried to show a neutral or bipartisan stance — joined with a close Trump ally, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, to publish a blog post outlining their approach to artificial intelligence policy. “Regulation should be implemented only if its benefits outweigh its costs,” said the document signed by Andreessen, his business partner Ben Horowitz, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and the company’s president, Brad Smith. They also urged the government to back off on any attempt to strengthen copyright laws that would make it harder for companies to use publicly available data to train their AI systems. And they said, “the government should examine its procurement practices to enable more startups to sell technology to the government.” Trump has pledged to rescind President Joe Biden’s sweeping AI executive order, which sought to protect people’s rights and safety without stifling innovation. He hasn’t specified what he would do in its place, but his campaign said AI development should be “rooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing.” Trump’s choice to head the Interior Department, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, has spoken openly about the need to boost electricity production to meet increased demand from data centers and artificial intelligence. “The AI battle affects everything from defense to healthcare to education to productivity as a country,′′ Burgum said on Nov. 15, referring to artificial intelligence. “And the AI that’s coming in the next 18 months is going to be revolutionary. So there’s just a sense of urgency and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration′′ to address it. Demand for data centers ballooned in recent years due to the rapid growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence, and local governments are competing for lucrative deals with big tech companies. But as data centers begin to consume more resources, some residents are pushing back against the world’s most powerful corporations over concerns about the economic, social and environmental health of their communities. “Maybe Big Tech should buy a copy of ‘The Art of The Deal’ to figure out how to best negotiate with this administration,” suggested Paul Swanson, an antitrust attorney for the law firm Holland & Hart. “I won’t be surprised if they find ways to reach some accommodations and we end up seeing more negotiated resolutions and consent decrees.” Although federal regulators began cracking down on Google and Facebook during Trump’s first term as president — and flourished under Biden — most experts expect his second administration to ease up on antitrust enforcement and be more receptive to business mergers. Google may benefit from Trump’s return after he made comments on the campaign trail suggesting a breakup of the company isn’t in the U.S. national interest, after a judge declared its search engine an illegal monopoly . But recent nominations put forward by his transition team have favored those who have been critical of Big Tech companies, suggesting Google won’t be entirely off the hook. Cook’s notoriously rocky relationship with the EU can be traced back to a 2016 ruling from Brussels in a tax case targeting Apple. Cook slammed the bloc’s order for Apple to pay back up to $13.7 billion in Irish back taxes as “total political crap.” Trump, then in his first term as president, piled on, referring to the European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who was spearheading a campaign on special tax deals and a crackdown on Big Tech companies, as the “tax lady” who “really hates the U.S.” Brussels was eventually vindicated after the bloc’s top court rejected Apple’s appeal this year, though it didn’t stop Cook from calling Trump to complain, Trump recounted in a podcast in October. Trump hosted Cook for a Friday evening dinner at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly. Neither Apple nor the Trump transition team has commented on the nature of their discussions. Altman , Amazon and Meta all pledged to donate $1 million each to Trump’s inaugural fund. During his first term, Trump criticized Amazon and railed against the political coverage at The Washington Post, which billionaire Bezos owns. Meanwhile, Bezos had criticized some of Trump’s past rhetoric. In 2019, Amazon also argued in a court case that Trump’s bias against the company harmed its chances of winning a $10 billion Pentagon contract. More recently, Bezos has struck a more conciliatory tone. He recently said at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit in New York that he was “optimistic” about Trump’s second term, while also endorsing president-elect’s plans to cut regulations. The donation from Meta came just weeks after Zuckerberg met with Trump privately at Mar-a-Lago. During the 2024 campaign, Zuckerberg did not endorse a candidate for president, but voiced a more positive stance toward Trump. Earlier this year, he praised Trump’s response to his first assassination attempt. Still, Trump in recent months had continued to attack Zuckerberg publicly. And Altman, who is in a legal dispute with AI rival Elon Musk, has said he is “not that worried” about the Tesla CEO’s influence in the incoming administration. Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year alleging that the maker of ChatGPT betrayed its founding aims of benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits.