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OpenAI eyes Google’s Chrome browser amid antitrust trial

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Nick Turley, manager of the ChatGPT unit at artificial intelligence giant OpenAI, said in a court hearing on Tuesday, June 18, that OpenAI would be interested in buying Google’s Chrome browser if a federal court decides to separate it.

As reported by Bloomberg, when asked if they would want to buy Google’s browser, Turley replied, “Yes, we would, just like many other parties.”

Turley was called to testify by the Department of Justice as part of a three-week hearing aimed at determining what changes Alphabet Inc.’s Google should be required to make to its business practices after a federal judge ruled last year that the company had monopolized the search market.

Judge Amit Mehta is expected to decide by August what business practices Google must change.

The Department of Justice has requested that Google be forced to divest Chrome.

Currently, OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT has an extension available for users to download on Google’s Chrome browser.

However, Turley stated that deeper integration of Chrome with OpenAI would allow them to offer a better product.

“If ChatGPT were integrated into Chrome, you could offer a truly incredible experience. We would have the ability to introduce users to what an AI-centric experience looks like,” Turley added.

Turley said that one of the most difficult problems the company faces today is distribution, noting that the company had reached a deal to integrate ChatGPT into Apple Inc.’s iPhone but had not achieved any success with Android smartphone manufacturers.

Earlier, a Google executive had acknowledged that the company began paying Samsung Electronics Co. in January to pre-install its Gemini AI application on its phones.

That deal is not exclusive, but Turley said OpenAI had made little progress in discussions with the South Korean company due to Google’s ability to spend more than the startup.

“It’s not for lack of trying,” Turley said. “We just never got to a point where we could discuss concrete terms.”

Later in his testimony, Turley said they were “deeply concerned about being shut out” by some of the large companies in the market, such as Google.

“We have powerful competitors who control the access points for how our products are discovered,” Turley stated. “People discover through a browser or an app store. Real choice fosters competition. Users should be able to choose.”

Launched in November 2022, ChatGPT quickly achieved viral success as one of the fastest-growing consumer software products of all time.

In February, OpenAI reported having over 400 million weekly active users.

Turley stated that the company had exceeded its weekly active user targets for 2024 but did not provide a number.

This week, Google began facing off against the Department of Justice and dozens of state attorneys general over what changes Mehta will order to prevent the company from monopolizing the online search market.

The remedies proposed by the Department of Justice include forcing Google to sell its Chrome browser, licensing search data to competitors, and stopping paid agreements for exclusive positions on apps and devices.

Google argues that the government’s proposal would harm consumers by degrading everyday Google products and would damage US leadership in technology.

If the court orders Google to sell its popular web browser, it would mark the first time a major US company has been broken up by court order since the breakup of AT&T in the 1980s.

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Trump halts foreign student entry to Harvard

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US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order banning foreign students from entering the US to study at Harvard University.

Announcing the executive order on Wednesday, President Trump also stated he has authorized Secretary of State Marco Rubio to initiate the revocation of visas for the university’s foreign students.

Trump stated in the announcement that this decision was prompted by the university’s refusal to share information regarding “known illegal activities” committed by its international students.

The order was issued even though a federal judge in May had granted a preliminary injunction. This injunction prevented the administration from barring Harvard’s enrollment of international students, as part of an effort to penalize the school over allegations of “antisemitism and civil rights violations.”

The university states that it is working to resolve these issues on its own.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement on X, “Admission to study at an ‘elite’ university in the United States is a privilege, not a right. The Department of Justice will vigorously defend the President’s decision to suspend the entry of new foreign students to Harvard University on national security grounds.”

In response, Harvard Spokesperson Jason Newton contended, “This is another illegal retaliatory step by the administration that infringes upon Harvard’s rights guaranteed under the First Amendment of the Constitution. Harvard will continue to protect its international students.”

Trump’s feud with the university began in April when Harvard rejected the White House’s demand to revise its admissions and disciplinary policies, citing violations of free speech rights. The White House responded by withholding more than $2 billion in federal grants.

In early May, Trump announced plans to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status. Later that month, he proposed distributing the university’s $3 billion endowment to vocational schools.

International students make up approximately 27% of Harvard’s student population. The White House first requested in late May the cancellation of the university’s participation in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which allows universities to enroll foreign students. Harvard sued the Department of Homeland Security, and a federal judge immediately granted a temporary restraining order.

During a hearing last week, US District Judge Allison Burroughs indicated her intention to issue a preliminary injunction. Such an order would bar the Trump administration from taking further punitive measures against Harvard as the lawsuit concerning the foreign student matter proceeds.

Although the Trump administration opposes any such injunction, it requested that the Department of Justice and Harvard lawyers agree on the wording for a potential court order. The two sides have not yet responded to the judge.

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Pentagon to shift Greenland oversight to Northern Command

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The Pentagon is preparing to make a symbolic move that will more closely align the Arctic island with the US by transferring control of Greenland to the US Northern Command (Northcom).

This shift in command, which could take place as early as this week, may also serve to expand US radar capabilities and strengthen its missile defense network.

A Department of Defense official, along with two sources acquainted with the plans, has indicated that Greenland is set to move from the European Command’s (Eucom) area of responsibility to that of the Northern Command (Northcom), the body charged with ensuring North American security.

This development represents the most tangible outcome of the Trump administration’s months-long efforts to secure Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.

The integration of Greenland into Northcom is anticipated to provoke significant discussion in Denmark and throughout NATO. Concerns have been fueled by the Trump administration’s sustained efforts to assert control over the island, including its unwillingness to rule out military options for acquisition.

Denmark and the semi-autonomous Faroe Islands will remain under Eucom’s authority, creating a symbolic and operational demarcation between these territories and Greenland.

A source close to the developments remarked, “Geographically, the move is logical. Politically, though, it’s clear this decision will raise concerns in Europe.”

This shift in command authority is a component of the Pentagon leadership’s ongoing review of the Unified Command Plan. This plan delineates the areas of responsibility for the department’s six geographic combatant commands.

While Greenland’s reassignment would not necessitate a major leadership overhaul, other proposals—such as merging Northcom with Southern Command or integrating Africa Command into the Germany-based Eucom—would significantly impact the number of three- and four-star officers in the military and the allocation of assets to various global regions.

For months, the Trump administration has emphasized Greenland’s strategic importance to US security. It argues that the island’s North Atlantic location is critical for enhancing missile defense programs and for monitoring Russian and Chinese maritime activities in the Arctic.

Such a change would pave the way for deploying more missile defense radar systems in Greenland and broadening this sensor network, thus integrating the island more tightly with Canadian and US regional defense frameworks.

Northcom is responsible for the protection of US territory. Its duties include overseeing southern border security, air and missile defense, and collaborating with Canada and Mexico on shared security concerns.

Bringing Greenland under Northcom’s umbrella will effectively elevate the island’s profile in policy debates at the Pentagon and the White House, distinctly positioning it relative to Denmark.

A source indicated that the Danish government has not yet been formally notified of the impending transfer.

The US has maintained a military presence on the island for an extended period. In March, individuals named as Vice President JD Vance and then-national security advisor Mike Waltz are said to have visited Pituffik Space Base. This facility, possessing the Pentagon’s northernmost deep-water port, has long functioned as a strategic site for monitoring Russia and China.

While in Greenland, Vance is reported to have encouraged the island’s leaders to “make a deal” with Washington, allegedly stating, “I believe it would be far more advantageous for you to be under the US security umbrella than under Denmark’s.”

In January, the Danish government committed to an additional $2 billion for Greenland’s security initiatives, a move partly aimed at appeasing the Trump administration’s security concerns.

The Trump administration’s remarks on the Arctic’s significance have also captured the attention of NATO leaders. Mark Rutte, the alliance’s secretary general, noted last week, “As NATO, we are increasing our engagement in Arctic security matters.”

Rutte also described the Trump administration’s focus on Russian and Chinese activities in the region as a positive development.

In a recent NBC interview last month, Trump affirmed he had not discounted the possibility of acquiring Greenland by military means, commenting, “I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but I’m not ruling anything out. We need Greenland very much.”

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AI’s potential ‘white-collar massacre’ sparks debate on job future, says Amodei

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Anthropic’s billionaire CEO, Dario Amodei, stated in an interview with Axios that artificial intelligence could eliminate 50% of all white-collar, entry-level jobs within the next one to five years, potentially raising unemployment rates to 10% to 20%.

Anthropic recently launched its new AI model, Claude Opus 4, which was reported to have “threatened” an engineer during testing.

Amodei also claimed that AI companies, like his own, will increase income inequality as they make large sums of money, calling on the US government to start taxing the sector. The Anthropic executive even proposed a “symbolic tax” requiring AI companies to pay 3% of the revenue generated from each use of their models to the government, suggesting this tax could be reinvested into programs like “worker retraining.”

On the other hand, critics argue that the “white-collar massacre” rhetoric is part of the “AI hype machine.” For example, Mark Cuban suggested Amodei should calm down, recalling that past technological advancements and automation displaced workers like secretaries for a time but ultimately created new industries and jobs.

Nevertheless, fears that AI will take white-collar jobs may be justified. According to a recent report from the New York Fed, the unemployment rate for new graduates rose to 5.8% last quarter, reaching its highest level since 2021. Data shows that unemployment has particularly increased in technical fields where rapid advancements in AI are being made. Earlier this month, Microsoft announced it would lay off 3% of its staff, including many engineers. Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike laid off 5% of its workforce (500 people), citing AI’s reshaping of the sector.

However, AI is not yet fully ready. A few weeks ago, Klarna reversed its decision after switching to AI customer service representatives and started hiring humans again.

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