Inequality today is worse than what the United States experienced during the Gilded Age at the end of the 19th century, says Joseph Stiglitz. “The wealthiest person in that era was Rockefeller. And his wealth really doesn’t compare to that of Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, and some of the new billionaires,” explains the economist, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001, in a phone interview. “Their political influence under Donald Trump is also unprecedented, with Musk being the clearest example.”
© FABRICE COFFRINI (AFP / GETTY IMAGES) (EL PAÍS)
Move creates conflict between state and administration as Trump seeks federal framework over states handling issue
The US justice department said on Friday it had intervened in a lawsuit by Elon Musk’s xAI challenging a Colorado law aimed at regulating artificial intelligence systems.
In its intervention, the justice department said the law violated the 14th amendment’s equal protection guarantee by requiring companies to guard against unintended discriminatory effects while allowing some discrimination aimed at promoting diversity.
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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
There are now 3,110 billionaires but analysis shows ‘deep structural acceleration’ in wealth creation around world
The number of billionaires in the world could reach nearly 4,000 by 2031, figures suggest, as the super-rich accumulate wealth at an accelerating rate.
There are now 3,110 billionaires globally, according to analysis by the estate agent Knight Frank. This is forecast to rise by 25% over the next five years, taking the total to 3,915.
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© Photograph: Chris Harris/Alamy
© Photograph: Chris Harris/Alamy
© Photograph: Chris Harris/Alamy
Cursor is aSilicon Valley startup using AI to automate coding as Elon Musk’s firm seeks foothold in the AI market
SpaceX said it has secured an option to either acquire code-generation startup Cursor for $60bn later this year, or pay $10bn for their new partnership, as it pushes deeper into the lucrative market for AI developer tools.
Along with OpenAI and Anthropic, Cursor is one of several Silicon Valley startups that has drawn waves of developers by using artificial intelligence to automate coding, a business where AI companies have found early commercial traction.
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© Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters
© Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters
© Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters
A group of editors meets every Tuesday — computer in hand — to correct a blind spot of digital knowledge: the absence and bias with which the history of women is told on Wikipedia, the platform co-founded 25 years ago by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, in an internet age that today seems remote.
© Santi Burgos (EL PAÍS)
© Santi Burgos (EL PAÍS)
© Santi Burgos (EL PAÍS)
© Santi Burgos (EL PAÍS)
Billionaire owner elects not to attend voluntary interview as part of investigation by French cybercrime unit
Elon Musk did not appear on Monday for a voluntary interview with lawyers in Paris, who had summoned the American tech billionaire over an investigation into his social media platform X and AI chatbot Grok.
The prosecutors told AFP that they had “taken note of the absence of the first people summoned”, without mentioning Musk’s name. The billionaire called the French authorities involved “retards” weeks earlier in a French-language post on X.
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© Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images
May 1, 2011 was a day like any other on the agenda of Jeffrey Epstein, less than two years after leaving the Florida jail where he served time for procuring a minor for prostitution. This is how that day played out, according to declassified documents from the U.S. government: at 9:30 a.m., breakfast with the diplomat Terje Rod-Larsen. At 11 a.m., a meeting with Nick Ribis, a former executive for Donald Trump’s hotels. At 1 p.m., an appointment with the journalist Michael Wolff. At 5 p.m., another appointment with Howard Lutnick, current U.S. Secretary of Commerce. At 6:30 p.m., dinner with the filmmaker Woody Allen and his wife Soon-Yi Previn, along with other guests like the neuroscientist Steve Kosslyn and hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin. At 8:30 p.m., another dinner in the home of designer Vera Wang.
When selecting the most relevant individuals mentioned in the Justice Department documents, EL PAÍS decided to place significant emphasis on the nature of the relationship these individuals had with Epstein. For that reason, we have not included people who are mentioned in the documents, but for whom there is no substantial evidence of contact with the pedophile and his inner circle. For example, we do not mention former King of Spain Juan Carlos I, whose name appears in millions of documents because he was mentioned by an actress, nor José María Aznar, whose only link to Epstein, according the declassified documents, is that his name appears on two shipping receipts issues by the sexual criminal. Nor have we included Alberto Cortina, to whose business Epstein was connected through third parties, but who does not appear to have had direct contact with the criminal.
Hans Niemann, a 22-year-old American, has enormous talent for chess; but his volatile and arrogant temperament rubs almost everyone up the wrong way. Magnus Carlsen, a 35-year-old Norwegian, is one of the best chess players in history; generally even-tempered, but sometimes he explodes and borders on arrogance himself. Niemann beat Carlsen at the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis in September 2022. The Scandinavian accused his rival of cheating, without any proof, and Niemann sued him for $100 million; they reached an out-of-court settlement. The documentary Untold: Chess Mates recounts the huge scandal — even Elon Musk got involved — without a single word of apology from Carlsen.
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