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Tech News
Vice President JD Vance announced Thursday that Microsoft and Adobe have been suspended from participating in the H-1B visa program. The move comes amid accusations that these and other companies have misused the visa system to hire foreign workers at lower wages, and follows broader Trump administration efforts to restrict H-1B visa practices.
President Trump has voiced support for legislation that would force major credit-card networks to open up to more competition, a measure the banking industry has long resisted. Separately, Vice President Vance said the U.S. will suspend Microsoft and other companies from a green-card sponsorship program, and reports flagged a rising number of safety incidents involving rogue pilots.
Anthropic has appointed at least two former Trump officials this year, including one to its board and another to lead its frontier compute strategy, while OpenAI has hired at least three ex-administration officials for strategy and special projects. The hiring comes as AI companies seek closer ties to the Trump White House amid regulatory pressure and security concerns, following a court ruling that upheld a Pentagon designation of Anthropic as a supply-chain risk.
President Trump signed an executive order directing agencies to avoid the term 'artificial intelligence' in favor of 'super intelligence,' following remarks at the UN claiming the word 'artificial' makes intelligence sound fake. The US Center for AI Standards and Innovation has already been renamed the Center for Advancing Innovation and Standards for Super Intelligence, and Justice Department press releases have started using the new phrasing.
The Financial Times reported that Starbucks has worked with advisers for months on a potential takeover of Chipotle Mexican Grill, though it remains unclear whether a formal offer was ever submitted. On the news, Starbucks shares initially dropped as much as 6.7% before settling 0.4% lower, while Chipotle shares jumped 6.2%.
Vice President JD Vance said the administration has suspended Microsoft and several other technology companies from a federal program that allows them to sponsor skilled foreign employees, including H-1B visa holders, for permanent residency. The announcement did not specify the reasons for the suspension or how long it would last.
A federal hearing examined whether President Trump can charge news organizations up to $100,000 a month for instant API access to his Truth Social posts, many of which announce government actions like military strikes or tariffs. DOJ attorney Brantley Mayers defended the fees by comparing Trump's posts to FDR's fireside chats, but US District Judge Paul Oetken pushed back, noting Roosevelt never charged for his broadcasts. News organizations suing argue the fee structure violates the First, Fifth, and Presidential Records Act protections against paid tiers of access to government information.
Sen. Maggie Hassan sent a letter to Trump Mobile CEO Patrick O'Brien alleging the company has not obtained FCC authorization under Section 214 to provide international calling despite advertising service to over 230 countries. She also said Trump Mobile and partner Liberty Mobile Wireless failed to file a complete robocall-mitigation plan, and raised concerns tied to a reported breach exposing data on 3,615 customers.
The Trump administration has barred Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys and Tata from the PERM program, which lets H-1B visa holders pursue permanent residency by certifying no qualified American workers are available. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the agency is investigating whether the companies committed fraud by undercutting American workers through foreign hiring. Vice President JD Vance specifically accused Microsoft of abusing the visa system, a claim Microsoft disputes, saying it hires according to visa standards while also building American talent.
Writer Ken Arneson reflects on a 2015 personal essay describing a phone conversation with his college-freshman daughter, who insisted on talking about trivial topics before revealing what was really bothering her. He recounts realizing, after reading that small talk exists to relieve conversational pressure, that his own instinct to get straight to the point had previously left him unaware of this social function.
In August, Donald Trump disclosed over 500 financial transactions, including a purchase of between $5 million and $25 million in Meta shares and an investment of up to $5 million in SpaceX senior notes. The filings reveal a highly active portfolio with significant trades across various companies, notably just before he endorsed a national space transportation policy.
The Trump administration accused Microsoft of abusing the H-1B visa program and said it is cutting off the company's access to it. Microsoft responded that 80% of its roughly 6,000 H-1B applications last fiscal year were to extend or change status for existing employees rather than hire new workers, and that new-employee filings equaled just 1% of its U.S. workforce. The company said all H-1B employees are paid comparably to other staff in similar roles.