Airport hackers used AI to penetrate the airport system’s security


By Dr. Tim Sandle
SCIENCE EDITOR

DIGITAL JOURNAL

September 24, 2025


United Airlines flights were grounded because of a 'technology disruption' at several US airports - Copyright AFP/File RONALDO SCHEMIDT

As Digital Journal has reported, major airports across Europe have been targeted in a cyberattack that began on Saturday, 20th September 2025.

Considering the aftermath of the incident, an expert is warning that artificial intelligence may have played a key role in the breach. The incident, which disrupted check-in and baggage systems at hubs including Dublin, London, Brussels and Berlin, left thousands of passengers stranded with cancelled or delayed flights.

Christian Perry, CEO of Undetectable AI, has explained to Digital Journal how AI is reshaping the way cyber-attacks unfold:

“Hackers aren’t just sitting in dark rooms typing away anymore. With AI, they can launch faster, smarter attacks that slip past traditional security systems. AI can be trained to find weaknesses in seconds, or even disguise itself to look like a human user, making it very hard to spot.”

Read more: Cybersecurity expert: Don’t leave all your airport security to TSA

In terms of how such an attack is likely to have been planned and developed, Perry thinks: “In this sort of attack, AI can do the heavy lifting that used to take hackers weeks. It can scan for weaknesses across huge systems in minutes, and once it finds a way in, it can copy normal user behaviour so it doesn’t raise any alarms. That makes it far easier for criminals to slip through the cracks without being noticed.”

Perry says we should heed warning from this incident: “That’s why this airport attack is so concerning. It shows how quickly the rules of cybersecurity are changing. If hackers are using AI to get in, we need AI detectors on the other side to keep them out.”

For travellers, the impact is immediate – queues, cancellations, and missed connections – but Perry stresses that the bigger story is about what comes next and how businesses like airports choose to react:

“Unfortunately, this probably won’t be the last time we see something like this. As attackers get more advanced, organisations need to wake up to the fact that traditional security isn’t enough anymore. Just like we scan luggage for hidden threats, we now need systems that scan for hidden AI activity. Without that, we’re always going to be one step behind.”

Considering the implication beyond airport, Perry warns that the same methods could be used against other parts of daily life:

“Transport networks, hospitals, banks – even emergency services – could all be vulnerable to AI-driven attacks. Imagine an AI system flooding 999 with fake calls, or breaking into a financial network to manipulate transactions at scale. These aren’t sci-fi scenarios – the tools already exist.”

Despite the risks, Perry says AI can also be a force for good in defending against the very attacks it enables: “It’s not all doom and gloom. AI can be trained to work on our side too – spotting unusual patterns, picking up threats faster than any human team, and shutting down attacks before they spiral.”

As an example, Perry cites: “In simple terms, AI can keep watch 24/7, scanning for anything unusual in the background – like a digital security guard that never gets tired. It can flag suspicious logins, notice when systems are behaving in ways they shouldn’t, and even help predict where the next attack might come from. The important thing is making sure we’re using AI to protect us just as quickly as criminals are using it to cause harm. The same technology that makes hackers smarter can also make us safer – if we put it to work in the right way.”

Glimmering sea of solar as China expands desert installation


By AFP
September 24, 2025


Solar panels at the Dalat Banner Photovoltaic Station in the Kubuqi desert near Ordos, in China's northern Inner Mongolia region - Copyright AFP Pedro Pardo

Adrien Simorre and Agatha Cantrill

An ocean of blue solar panels ripples across the ochre dunes of Inner Mongolia’s Kubuqi desert, a glittering example of China’s almost inconceivably mammoth energy transition.

Even as other countries have put the brakes on desert solar projects for economic or technical reasons, China — the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases — is ploughing ahead.

Desert solar installations are a key part of China’s plans to reach carbon neutrality by 2060. The country’s solar capacity dwarfs global efforts and is so substantial it may even impact local weather patterns.

“Before, there was nothing here… it was desolate,” Kubuqi local Chang Yongfei told AFP as he gestured towards fields of shimmering panels.

The installations are so enormous, they are visible from space.

AFP analysis of satellite images over the last decade shows in Kubuqi alone more than 100 square kilometres of panels have been installed, an area roughly the size of Paris.

On Thursday, China pledged to expand wind and solar capacity to more than six times its 2020 levels, as it tries to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 7-10 percent from peak levels.

The “defining factor” for building in the desert is the availability of otherwise unused land, according to analyst David Fishman.

But the remote, sun-soaked terrain poses formidable challenges.

Sandstorms can degrade panel ventilators, while blistering temperatures reduce the efficiency of solar cells. Sand accumulation can demand scarce water for cleaning.

Kubuqi’s solar panels are designed to counter those obstacles, with self-cleaning ventilators and double-sided cells that allow them to capture light reflected from the ground, according to Chinese state media.



– Infrastructure key –



The distance to energy-hungry urban areas, and the network sophistication required to transport the electricity, has stalled desert projects from North Africa to the United States.

The energy generated in Kubuqi is destined for densely populated Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, hundreds of kilometres away.

And the growth of solar capacity — overshooting a government target nearly six years early — has not been matched by power grid development.

This causes some energy to be lost, along with congestion on power lines.

Overcoming this requires infrastructure “to effectively allocate and dispatch power around the country without allowing bottlenecks to occur”, said Fishman.

Some places, including Inner Mongolia and neighbouring Ningxia and Gansu, are “restricting new project approvals unless they can explicitly demonstrate” the energy won’t be wasted, he added.

Despite this, in the first half of the year, China installed more solar than the entire solar capacity in the United States as of the end of 2024.



– Coal –



The sheer scale of some desert solar fields might create their own climatic effect, according to the University of Lund’s Zhengyao Lu.

Heat absorption across large areas can change atmospheric flows and have “negative secondary effects”, like rainfall reduction elsewhere, he said.

However, the risks of solar energy “remain minor compared to the dangers of continuing greenhouse gas emissions”, he added.

The solar expansion does not mean fossil fuels have been abandoned, especially in Inner Mongolia, a traditional mining region.

Around Kubuqi, soot-blackened trucks and chimney stacks belching smoke show the industry’s persistence.

China brought more coal power online in the first half of this year than any time since 2016, a report said in August.

The polluting fuel “constitutes a real structural obstacle to the expansion of wind and solar power”, NGO Greenpeace said this summer.



– ‘Good transition’ –



Chang, the local resident, told AFP he used to work in the coal industry.

Now, he runs a hotel made up of huts nestled in the sand dunes, not far from the solar fields.

Views of the shimmering solar cells have gone viral online, as Kubuqi has become a popular domestic holiday destination.

“The transition has been very good for the region,” 46-year-old Chang said.

Quadbike tours, camel rides and dune surfing have become a new source of income for locals.

Chang worries solar expansion might swallow up the whole desert, and with it this new revenue stream.

“But I have confidence the government will leave us a little bit,” he said.

“It should be enough.”

Volkswagen to take Dieselgate case to U.S. federal court


By AFP
September 25, 2025


Image: © AFP/File

German auto giant Volkswagen said Thursday it intended to appeal to the country’s Federal Constitutional Court after losing a legal case linked to the “Dieselgate” scandal.

The Higher Administrative Court in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein on Thursday ruled against Volkswagen and the Federal Office of Motor Vehicles (KBA), saying that the KBA had illegally authorised Volkswagen’s Golf Plus TDI model in 2016, despite it being fitted with two illicit “defeat devices” which interfered with emissions controls.

Volkswagen said in a statement sent to AFP that the decision was “not final” and that it would “take legal action at the Federal Constitutional Court”.

The company added that as the decision is not final, it does not mean that the KBA will have to take “measures such as removing vehicles’ registration or applying technical modifications” to rectify the defeat devices.

The Environmental Action Germany (DUH) pressure group launched the original case in 2018 in the wake of the Dieselgate scandal.

VW, whose image was tarnished by ‘Dieselgate’, says it will appeal the ruling to federal court – Copyright AFP Patrick T. Fallon

The scandal has caused waves in the global car industry since September 2015, when Volkswagen admitted tampering with millions of diesel vehicles to dupe pollution tests.

To date, Volkswagen has had to pay more than 32 billion euros’ worth ($37 billion) of fines over the scandal, mostly in the United States.

The DUH called Thursday’s ruling a “breakthrough for clean air and the millions of citizens harmed by Dieselgate”.

The group says it estimates the ruling will affect 7.8 million vehicles fitted with devices allowing illegal levels of nitrogen oxide emissions.

However, Volkswagen itself said the decision only affected a number of vehicles “in the low thousands”.

Nickel mining threatens Indonesia coral haven, NGOs warn


By AFP
September 25, 2025

Watchdogs warned that nickel mining in Indonesia threatened coral reef hoptspots - Copyright AURIGA NUSANTARA/AFP Handout

Nickel mining threatens one of the world’s most important marine biodiversity and coral hotspots in Indonesia, despite the government revoking several permits, a report warned Thursday.

Analysis of recent and historic mining in the region showed a “domino effect of destruction,” ranging from deforestation on land to sediment run-off smothering coral reefs, the report by NGOs Auriga Nusantara and Earth Insight said.

“Post-mining rehabilitation is very poor,” Auriga Nusantara executive director Timer Manurung told AFP. “We worry that the current nickel mining will impact Raja Ampat for decades to come.”

Raja Ampat is part of the famed Coral Triangle, beloved by divers for its marine riches.

In June, Indonesia’s government revoked permits for four of the five nickel mining companies operating in the cluster of islands and shoals in Southwest Papua Province.

That followed an outcry from activists and residents over the impact of mining for the metal used in everything from stainless steel to electric vehicles.

In September, the government allowed one company — PT Gag Nikel — to restart operations, arguing the impact “can be properly mitigated.”

But NGOs say serious damage has already been done, and there is little sign of clean-up.

Images captured by the groups in the region show sediment run-off turning otherwise emerald waters murky brown, downhill from stripped hilltops.

They also documented bleached and damaged coral at current and former mining sites, near jetties and areas affected by sediment run-off.

While warmer waters caused by climate change have caused coral bleaching in many parts of the world, Timer said coral just 50-100 metres (160-320 feet) away from the surveyed areas remained healthy.

The groups also fear mining could restart in the region, noting no formal revocation letter has been published by the government so far.

“Even though there is no active mining operation on sites, the staff of the companies and its heavy machinery are still there,” said Timer.

Indonesia’s mineral resources ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Until earlier this year, nickel mining concessions covered 22,000 hectares (54,300 acres) of the Raja Ampat region’s 3.66 million hectares, much of it inside a designated UNESCO Global Geopark.

These areas are recognised by the UN body for their “international geological significance” and are meant to be “managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development,” UNESCO says.

Gag Nikel’s operations lie outside the Geopark.

Indonesia has the world’s largest nickel reserves and has sought to spur domestic processing to capture more of the value chain.

CAPPLETALI$M

Apple asks EU to scrap landmark digital competition law


By AFP
September 25, 2025


Image — © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File SCOTT OLSON

Apple asked the European Union to scrap its landmark digital competition law on Thursday, arguing that it poses security risks and creates a “worse experience” for consumers.

The US tech giant and the EU have repeatedly locked horns over the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which Brussels says seeks to make the digital sector in the 27-nation bloc fairer and more open.

“The DMA should be repealed while a more appropriate fit for purpose legislative instrument is put in place,” Apple said in a formal submission to the European Commission as part of a consultation on the law.

The latest clash came as President Donald Trump sought to pressure the EU over decisions and laws affecting US Big Tech — with key industry figures including Apple chief Tim Cook moving closer to the White House since Trump’s return to power.

“It’s become clear that the DMA is leading to a worse experience for Apple users in the EU,” the tech giant said in a blog post accompanying its submission. “It’s exposing them to new risks, and disrupting the simple, seamless way their Apple products work together.”

Pushing for wholesale reform of the law if it is not repealed, Apple suggested enforcement “should be undertaken by an independent European agency” rather than the commission, the EU’s executive arm and digital watchdog.

The DMA challenges Apple’s closed ecosystem, but Brussels argues that it is necessary to do so to level the playing field for Apple’s rivals and avoid unfair market domination.

The law tells Big Tech firms what they can and cannot do on their platforms. For example, companies must offer choice screens for web browsers and search engines to give users more options.

Violations of the DMA can lead to hefty fines.

Brussels in April slapped a 500-million-euro ($590-million) fine on Apple under the DMA, which the company has appealed.

– Delays for EU users –

Apple says dangers are posed when Europeans can download app marketplaces that rival its App Store.

The giant also cites an increasing number of complaints from users about DMA-related changes but has not provided exact figures.

It argued in its 25-page submission that the EU’s law had forced it to delay new features in the bloc.

For example, Apple has not yet rolled out “live translation” — which allows consumers to choose another language to hear via AirPods in their ears.

The technology was launched this month in the United States but Apple says it must undertake further engineering work to ensure users’ privacy in the EU.

Under the DMA, companies including Apple must make sure their products can work seamlessly with third-party devices such as earphones.

The commission said it was “normal” companies sometimes needed more time to make sure their products were in line with the new law and that it was helping them comply.

DMA enforcement began in March 2024 and the EU’s consultation on the first review of the law ended just before midnight on Wednesday.

Independently from the digital rules, Apple has faced the heat under different EU competition rules. Brussels slapped it with a 1.8-billion-euro fine in March 2024.

EU queries Apple, Google, Microsoft over financial scams


By AFP
September 23, 2025


Image: — © Copyright AFP GREG BAKER

Raziye Akkoc

The European Union on Tuesday demanded Big Tech players including Apple and Google explain what action they are taking against financial scams online, as Brussels seeks to show it is not shying away from enforcing its rules.

The European Commission sent a request for information under the Digital Services Act to the companies, including Microsoft and Booking, “on how they make sure that their services are not being misused by scammers”, an EU spokesman said.

The DSA is the EU’s landmark law demanding Big Tech firms do more to tackle illegal content but it has faced retaliation threats from US President Donald Trump, and censorship claims from the US tech sector.

The EU has vowed it will not back down from enforcing its stringent rules to protect Europeans online.

Tuesday’s request could lead to a probe under the DSA and even fines, but does not itself suggest the law has been broken, nor is it a move towards punishment.

“This is an essential step also to protect users across the EU from certain of these practices, and to make sure that platforms in the EU also play their role,” EU digital affairs spokesman Thomas Regnier told reporters in Brussels.

The request relates to Apple’s App Store, Google Play, online travel agent Booking and Microsoft’s Bing search engine.

The EU fears app stores could be used by scammers to create fake apps posing as legitimate banking providers or fraudsters could publish links to fake websites on search engines.

– Trump threats –

The EU has a bolstered legal armoury with the DSA and its sister law, the Digital Markets Act, which seeks to ensure fair competition online.

Brussels has already launched multiple investigations under the DSA into Meta’s Facebook and Instagram as well as TikTok and X.

But its rules have faced the wrath of Trump — who has shaken up global trade by hitting America’s trading partners with higher tariffs and threatened more levies on those he accuses of targeting US tech companies.

The US State Department, Trump allies and critics including Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk have called the EU’s rules censorship.

The EU rejects such claims, stressing that whatever is illegal in the real world is also illegal in the online realm.

It has also pushed back at accusations it is targeting American titans, pointing to investigations into China’s big players that face DSA scrutiny including shopping platform AliExpress.

Defenders of the bloc’s tech rules have meanwhile attacked the EU for failing to complete its probe into Musk’s X, which opened in December 2023. X is expected to be hit with a fine but Brussels says technical work in the investigation continues.

EU digital chief Henna Virkkunen told AFP last week that probes into online platforms including X will be completed in the “coming weeks and months”.

She warned more investigations could also be on the way.

“We will probably start new ones because the DSA, of course, it’s a huge legislation,” she said.

 

Fortescue chairman Forrest doubles down on renewables in challenge to Trump

Reuters | September 25, 2025 |

Andrew Forrest, chairman of Fortescue Future Industries. tours the outdoor Hydrogen Fueling Station and Bioreactor at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. (Image by Joe DelNero, courtesy of NREL).

Australian miner Fortescue is experiencing strong interest in its decarbonization-related offerings, executive chairman Andrew Forrest said in an interview, as he challenged US President Donald Trump’s claim that climate change is the “greatest con job” in the world.

Fortescue has set some of the most ambitious decarbonization targets among Australia’s major miners, but was recently forced to walk away from some planned green hydrogen projects. The company, the world’s fourth-largest miner of iron ore, attributed the cancellation of a project in Arizona in part to a shift in US policy away from green energy.

However, Forrest said he was not willing to give up despite mounting criticism of climate-driven initiatives by Trump, who on Tuesday dismissed climate change during his address to the United Nations General Assembly.

Speaking on board Fortescue’s Green Pioneer, which the company says is the world’s first ship capable of running on green ammonia and diesel, Forrest condemned Trump’s statement and challenged the president to debate him, even if it takes place in a courtroom.

“Sue me, but I’m saying you have no basis of fact to say that,” the billionaire, who ranked among Australia’s richest people, said.

“I sailed (the Green Pioneer) into the middle of the lion’s den to make the point that I’d much rather be getting my fuel from the air, from the sun, from the wind, which is going to be infinite, than I would from drill, baby, drill,” Forrest said.

Earlier on Thursday, Fortescue said it acquired Spanish wind technology company Nabrawind and signed an agreement for the purchase of wind turbines from Envision Energy. Those deals will help accelerate the deployment of renewable energy across Fortescue’s operations, Forrest said.

Fortescue also said it would deploy a fleet of 300 to 400 battery-powered mining trucks capable of hauling 240-metric-ton loads, with deliveries planned from 2028 to 2030. Chinese mining equipment maker XCMG will supply up to half the trucks, while German-Swiss equipment manufacturer Liebherr will supply the remainder, the company said.

Fortescue’s order book for battery-powered trucks developed in partnership with Liebherr is strong, Forrest said, without providing further details.

The miner was likely to exceed its target of reaching 2 to 3 gigawatts of renewable energy generation and storage in its domestic iron ore operations by 2030, Forrest said.

“We will probably do more than that because we’re getting more people wanting to join in,” Forrest said.

(By Shariq Khan; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)

An Aussie tycoon bets billions on cleaning up iron ore giant


By AFP
September 26, 2025


The ammonia-powered Green Pioneer is an emblem of Fortescue's climate ambitions - Copyright AFP Issam AHMED

Issam AHMED

Moored off a Manhattan pier for New York’s annual Climate Week is one of the world’s first ammonia-powered vessels — a green flagship for an Australian tycoon’s drive to decarbonize his mining empire.

Even as President Donald Trump’s second term has triggered environmental backtracking among many corporations, iron ore giant Fortescue — founded by Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest — is investing billions to clean up its dirty operations.

“We’re a huge polluter right now,” he told AFP in an interview aboard the Green Pioneer, a 75-meter former oil-rig supply ship given a swish makeover. “But we’re changing so fast, and within five years, we’ll stop burning fossil fuels.”

The Green Pioneer is meant to be the first in a fleet of ammonia-powered ships.

Ammonia contains what Forrest calls the “miracle molecule” — hydrogen — which burns to produce harmless nitrogen and water, though incomplete combustion of ammonia can still generate a greenhouse gas.

– ‘Real Zero,’ not offsets –

At 63, Forrest has become a fixture at global summits, rubbing shoulders with leaders such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as he evangelizes his climate vision.

Where other companies tout green credentials by buying carbon credits — generated through nature protection or carbon-removal projects for example — to claim “net zero,” Forrest dismisses the practice as a scam.

“Carbon credits have already been proved by science to be next to worthless,” said Forrest, whose net worth Forbes pegs at more than $16 billion. “That’s why we go ‘Real Zero.'”

Achieving genuine decarbonization by 2030 is no small feat, particularly in one of the world’s dirtiest industries.

Fortescue’s plan involves replacing diesel-powered mining equipment with electric excavators and drills; building vast wind, solar and battery farms to power operations; and running battery-powered haul trucks.

Further along the value chain, the company wants to process its own iron ore — the stage responsible for the lion’s share of emissions — using “green hydrogen” produced by splitting water molecules with renewable electricity, instead of coke or thermal coal.

“Fortescue’s climate commitments are certainly different to most other corporations, including its peers in the iron ore mining sector” such as Rio Tinto and BHP, Simon Nicholas, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis’ lead analyst for global steel told AFP.

“It has a ‘green iron’ pilot plant under construction in Australia which will use green hydrogen. The company is aiming to eventually process all of its iron ore into iron for export — about 100 million tonnes a year” — and even getting close to those targets would be transformative, said Nicholas.

– Technical challenges –

But he cautioned that the technological hurdles remain immense: green hydrogen is still expensive, and the pilot plant must prove it can handle lower-grade ore.

Then there’s the inherent ecological cost of mining. “If you destroy parts of a forest, including its soils, for your mining operation, even if you don’t use fossil fuels for your operations, you will not be ‘true zero,'” Oscar Soria, co-director of The Common Initiative think tank told AFP.

Forrest’s outlook is grounded in his personal journey.

Raised in the Australian Outback, where he earned the nickname “Twiggy” for his skinny childhood frame, he got his start in finance before taking over a company and renaming it Fortescue Metals Group in 2003.

Forrest said his environmental commitment deepened after a hiking accident in 2014 left him temporarily wheelchair-bound. Encouraged by his children, he returned to university and completed a PhD in marine ecology.

“That convinced me I’ve got to put every fiber of my being into arresting this threat so much bigger than any geostrategic issues, so much bigger than politics, so much bigger than anything,” he said.

Climate now sits at the heart of his philanthropic Minderoo Foundation.

And while the Trump administration derides the “green scam” as economically catastrophic, Forrest insists the opposite is true, pointing to Fortescue’s financial record.

“Don’t accuse us of being unbusiness-like. We’re the most business-like in the world.”

More questions than answers surround Trump’s TikTok deal

By AFP
September 26, 2025


Chinese ownership in TikTok's US market will drop to 20 percent under a new deal announced by President Donald Trump's White House

 - Copyright AFP/File Antonin UTZ

Alex PIGMAN and Thomas URBAIN

President Donald Trump insists he has found a solution to keep TikTok alive in the United States through a group of investors who will buy the short-video app from its Chinese owners in accordance with US law.

But questions remain unresolved about how this will play out and what it means for American users.

– Is there actually a deal? –

Any sale of TikTok’s US operations would require Chinese owner ByteDance to divest. That would need approval from China’s government, which is reluctant to see a national champion forced out of its largest market as a trade war rages with an increasingly protectionist Trump.

While the Trump administration has insisted that China has accepted a deal for the sale, there has been no confirmation from Beijing. Queries to TikTok and ByteDance have gone unanswered.

“This deal is still very confusing in terms of what is exactly going on,” University of Florida media professor Andrew Selepak told AFP.

– Is Trump taking over TikTok? –

In an executive order signed on Thursday, the White House outlined a deal centered on key investors with close ties to the president.

Trump has specifically named Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, a longtime ally and the world’s second-richest man, as a major player in the arrangement. For decades, Ellison has been one of Silicon Valley’s few high-profile Republicans in a tech sector dominated by liberal politics.

Ellison is returning to the spotlight through his dealings with Trump, who has brought his old friend into major AI partnerships with OpenAI, for example.

The 81-year-old has also backed his son David’s acquisition of Hollywood studio Paramount and is reportedly eyeing Warner Brothers.

The investor group also includes 94-year-old media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, who control Fox News.

Whether this signals a conservative rebranding of TikTok — a platform Trump credits with helping him reach young voters — remains unclear. Trump denied this possibility on Thursday.

The prospect of a right-wing shift, or increased government intervention in media, has raised concerns that key platforms are falling under conservative control, potentially limiting diverse viewpoints in a bitterly divided America.

The fate of TikTok will be decided amid major shifts across social media platforms.

Elon Musk has transformed X (formerly Twitter) into a vehicle for far-right politics, driving away many establishment media outlets and liberal users.

Meanwhile, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg has aligned with Trump and overhauled content moderation on Facebook and Instagram to address Republican claims of anti-conservative bias.

– Why so cheap? –

At Thursday’s White House ceremony, Vice President JD Vance pegged the deal at $14 billion. That’s a surprisingly low figure given Twitter’s $44 billion valuation when it sold and TikTok’s unique reach among young consumers in the world’s largest economy.

Bloomberg reporting helped shed light on the modest price tag: unnamed sources indicated that ByteDance would retain significant value through an expensive licensing arrangement, potentially receiving about half of the new company’s profits even if the company would hold just a 20 percent stake, according to Trump’s plan.

Such terms could trigger alarm in Washington, where some lawmakers could scrutinize whether any sale meets the requirements of the divest-or-ban law that should have taken effect in January but has been repeatedly delayed since Trump took office.

And confusingly, the executive order announced Thursday extended the deadline to ban TikTok until mid-January to finalize a deal that the Trump administration simultaneously claimed was already complete.

John Moolenaar, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, reiterated this point on Friday and warned that he would be “conducting full oversight over this agreement.”

“ByteDance has shown time and again that it is a bad actor,” he said.

The Trump plan “offers vague assurances about protecting US national security but provides virtually no specifics,” said Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond School of Law.

Adding to skepticism: Ellison’s Oracle already manages TikTok’s data servers from an earlier attempt to address US security concerns. Critics question whether this deal changes anything substantive.

Trump allies to control TikTok under new US deal


By AFP
September 25, 2025


Image: — © AFP Richard A. Brooks

Alex PIGMAN

Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order laying out a proposed deal for a US version of TikTok that would see Chinese ownership reduced to 20 percent and put control in the hands of the president’s allies.

At a signing ceremony at the White House, Trump said the US version of the app would be run by “highly sophisticated” investors including Larry Ellison, the founder of cloud giant Oracle, tech investor Michael Dell and media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.

Investment firm Silver Lake Management and Silicon Valley powerhouse Andreessen Horowitz are also thought to be part of the deal.

“The proposed divestiture would allow the millions of Americans who enjoy TikTok every day to continue using it while also protecting national security,” Trump stated in the order, which affects TikTok’s approximately 170 million American users.

The lineup of investors mentioned are all Trump allies but he insisted that the app would not toe any political line.

“If I could make it 100 percent MAGA I would, but it’s not going to work out that way unfortunately. No… every group, every philosophy, every policy, will be treated very fairly,” Trump told reporters.

The president confirmed that the US version of TikTok would feature a homegrown model of the app’s prized algorithm, often described as TikTok’s “secret sauce” that helped it grow into one of the world’s most popular platforms in just a few years.

A White House official said Monday the algorithm would be “continuously monitored” to ensure it is “not being unduly influenced.”

The new set-up for TikTok is in response to a law passed under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, that has forced its Chinese owner ByteDance to sell its US operations or face a ban in its biggest market.

US policymakers, including Trump in his first presidency, have warned that China could use TikTok to mine data from Americans or exert influence through its state-of-the-art algorithm.

Trump has repeatedly delayed enforcement through successive executive orders, most recently extending the deadline until December 16, 2025.

Thursday’s order extended that deadline still further, granting a 120-day enforcement delay to complete the transaction by January 23.

Vice President JD Vance, the one-time venture capitalist who led the team to find a solution for TikTok, said the US entity would be valued at about $14 billion, though he added that it would ultimately be up to the investors to figure out its price.

When asked if the Chinese authorities had signed off on the deal, Trump said that President Xi Jinping gave his green light in a phone call last week.

“(I have) great respect for President Xi, and I very much appreciate that he approved the deal, because to get it done properly, we really needed the support of China,” he said.

TikTok did not respond to a query seeking comment and confirmation, and Beijing has remained largely silent on any deal.

After the Trump-Xi call, state broadcaster CCTV said Xi emphasized to his US counterpart that China supports market-based negotiations that align with Chinese laws.

 

The Neofascist Economy is Here

by Bill Scheuerman and Sid Plotkin / September 26th, 2025

Donald Trump is creating a new form of capitalism. His economic policy is driven by his personal whims rather than the needs of capital, the results of which are likely to bring disaster to our economy and extreme hardship to American workers and the American people.

Trump voters have consistently overlooked or dismissed his glaring failures as a businessman who squandered his great family wealth. Born with a golden spoon in his mouth, this self-anointed Commander of Capitalism had an allowance of $200,000 annually as a toddler and became a millionaire at the age of eight. After he finished college his daddy provided him with a million dollars annually, but once on his own he nearly lost his fortune. Remember, he filed for bankruptcy six times. Never one to admit failure of any kind, Trump thinks he’s qualified to save the American economy because he thinks he’s a master deal maker. We can thank NBC for falsely promoting his image as NYC’s most successful real estate entrepreneur. He was nothing of the kind. The truth is the big absentee owners of New York City real estate and banking shunned him. Before NBC rescued Trump, his public life consisted of appearances at professional wrestling matches, dwindling movie cameos, and hawking his fake university.

But facts have consequences and the consequence of corporate broadcasting’s legitimation of Trump set him on the path to the White House. Now, as another consequence, he’s creating a new neo-fascist economy, a capitalism more obedient to him than to profit. And no institution, no law, in fact, nothing is going to stop him. As he put it, “I have the right to do whatever I want as president.” Consider these few examples: He unilaterally imposed tariffs on most countries, including a couple that don’t exist, and changes the rate on an almost daily basis. After calling for the firing of the head of Intel, he forced the company to surrender a 10% stake to the government. He put the squeeze on Nvidia and AMD – you want an export license, gimme what I want – forcing them to turn over 15% of revenue earned from selling chips in China. His old reliable mode of economic extortion – the threat of even higher tariffs – convinced Apple to “promise” to invest billions in the United States, and he agreed to the sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel providing he has the power to influence corporate decisions. He’s now using that power to prevent the building of a steel mill in blue state Illinois. Sounds like an extortion racket, doesn’t it? He used the government’s leverage over a potential merger to get CBS to kick Stephen Colbert off the air and he has tried to use the same script with ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel. As Steve Ratner notes in the New York Times, the White House keeps a scorecard of over 500 corporations and Trade Associations based on their support for Trump’s tax and spending programs. Trump’s new American economy works on one principle: Support Trump or suffer the consequences (Putin excepted, of course).

Trump’s excursions into the corporate economy make a mockery of the myth of the free market. It presents the captains of America’s corporate economy, an economy mostly dominated by a handful of companies that control the bulk of their markets, with a Hobson’s choice: do they follow the interests of capital or do they risk retribution by resisting the president’s threats? As Baron and Sweezy show, capital seeks its most profitable outlets, but Trump’s arbitrary whims take corporations in a different direction. Consider the case of Apple. To avoid unacceptably high tariffs the company made a vague promise to invest up to six billion dollars in the United States, even though the costs of domestic production are exorbitantly higher. Given Trump’s immigration policies and Apple’s reliance on a specialized labor force, the absence of a trained labor pool will drive up production costs even more. Sales and profits are likely to fall under this scenario. How will stockholders respond? Will investors start funneling their money elsewhere? If so, what does Apple’s future and the future of other firms Trump is extorting look like?

Trump’s approach creates uncertainty that is almost sure to lead to disinvestment in the American economy. Investors require certainty. Why would capital flow into or even remain in the United States given Trump’s almost daily changes to his tariff policies and extortion of even the biggest companies? Businesses large and small tried to stockpile parts and commodities before the tariffs hit and even absorb some rising costs to cushion prices to their consumers. But the stockpiles are depleted and stockholders will tolerate reduced profits for only so long. Now it’s likely that companies will pay for the tariffs by cutting jobs and wages, further increasing the country’s already record-breaking economic inequality. Tariffs are just one aspect of the uncertainty that Trump has wrought upon us. A massive decline in foreign investment will drive up long-term interest rates even as Trump tries to force lower short-term rates on the once independent FED. Trump’s actions will make access to capital more costly, triggering an economic slowdown, increase unemployment, and undercut the value of the U.S. dollar. All this all but guarantees the US will lose the many imperial advantages of the dollar as the world’s most secure international currency.

Some pundits call Trump’s policies socialism. They miss the point. Trump has no interest in using the means of production for the public good. To the contrary, his program, such as it is, follows the fascist playbook: make all important institutions — corporations, universities, law firms, the entertainment industry, professional sports — serve and reflect the leaders’ power craving. Trump’s fantasy-driven narcissism is everywhere: meddling in the private sector; total indifference to facts and truth; a super nationalistic MAGA celebration of a falsified golden era; his ever-present self-glorification as the one and only man “who can fix anything;” disregard for the law and tradition; persecution of enemies; and the dominant role played by military spending. And let’s not forget the gawdy public displays of military power, such as a mass parade and mobilization of troops in Democratic led cities. American monopoly capitalism was far from perfect, but the jugular question here isn’t ideological. It’s whether the already flawed version of American “free enterprise” can survive fascist irrationality. Subordinating the real economy of the United States to the whims of “the great leader” makes no sense. But it is our governing reality. The real question then is, can we survive it?

Sidney Plotkin is a Professor of Political Science, Margaret Stiles Halleck Chair of Social Science, at Vassar College. He is the author of many articles and several books, including Veblen's America: The Conspicuous Case of Donald J. Trump (Anthem Press, 2018). 

William E. Scheuerman is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at SUNY Oswego. He is the retired President of the National Labor College and past President of United University Professions, the nation's largest higher ed union. A long-time labor activist, Scheuerman has written several books and numerous articles in both scholarly and popular journals. His most recent book is A New American Labor Movement: The Decline of Collective Bargaining and the Rise of Direct Action (SUNY Press, 2021). Read other articles by Bill Scheuerman and Sid Plotkin.

Trump to put import taxes on pharma, home furnishings, heavy trucks

By AP with Eleanor Butler
Published on 26/09/2025 -

While Trump did not provide a legal justification for the tariffs, he appeared to stretch the bounds of his role as commander-in-chief by stating on Truth Social that the taxes on imported kitchen cabinets and sofas were needed “for national security and other reasons".

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he will put import taxes of 100% on pharmaceutical drugs, 50% on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, 30% on upholstered furniture and 25% on heavy trucks starting on 1 October.

The posts on his social media site showed that Trump's devotion to tariffs did not end with the trade frameworks and import taxes that were launched in August, a reflection of the president's confidence that taxes will help to reduce the government's budget deficit while increasing domestic manufacturing.

While Trump did not provide a legal justification for the tariffs, he appeared to stretch the bounds of his role as commander-in-chief by stating on Truth Social that the taxes on imported kitchen cabinets and sofas were needed “for National Security and other reasons".

Under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the administration launched a Section 232 investigation in April about the impacts on national security from pharmaceutical drug and truck imports. The Commerce Department launched a 232 investigation into timber and lumber in March, though it's unclear whether the furniture tariffs stem from that.


Economic uncertainty


The tariffs are another dose of uncertainty for the US economy with a solid stock market but a weakening outlook for jobs and elevated inflation. These new taxes on imports could pass through to consumers in the form of higher prices and dampen hiring, a process that economic data suggests is already underway.

“We have begun to see goods prices showing through into higher inflation,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned in a recent news conference, adding that higher costs for goods account for “most” or potentially “all” of the increase in inflation levels this year.

The president has pressured Powell to resign, arguing that the Fed should cut its benchmark interest rates more aggressively because inflation is no longer a concern. Fed officials have stayed cautious on rate cuts because of the uncertainty created by tariffs.

Trump said on Truth Social that the pharmaceutical tariffs would not apply to companies that are building manufacturing plants in the United States, which he defined as either “breaking ground” or being “under construction.” It was unclear how the tariffs would apply to companies that already have factories in the US.

In 2024, America imported nearly $233 billion (€199.5bn) in pharmaceutical and medicinal products, according to the Census Bureau. The prospect of prices doubling for some medicines could send shock waves to voters as healthcare expenses, as well as the costs of Medicare and Medicaid, potentially increase.

The pharmaceutical drug announcement was shocking as Trump has previously suggested that tariffs would be phased in over time so that companies had time to build factories and relocate production. On CNBC in August, Trump said he would start by charging a “small tariff” on pharmaceuticals and raise the rate over a year or more to 150% and even 250%.

According to the White House, the threat of tariffs earlier this year contributed to many major pharmaceutical companies, including Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Roche, Bristol Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly, among others, to announce investments in US production.

Pascal Chan, vice president for strategic policy and supply chains at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, warned that the tariffs could harm Americans' health with “immediate price hikes, strained insurance systems, hospital shortages, and the real risk of patients rationing or foregoing essential medicines".

The new tariffs on cabinetry could further increase the costs for homebuilders at a time when many people seeking to buy a house feel priced out by the mix of housing shortages and high mortgage rates. The National Association of Realtors on Thursday said there were signs of price pressures easing as sales listings increased 11.7% in August from a year ago.
Investing in domestic production

Trump said that foreign-made heavy trucks and parts are hurting domestic producers that need to be defended.

“Large Truck Company Manufacturers, such as Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack Trucks, and others, will be protected from the onslaught of outside interruptions,” Trump posted.

Trump has long maintained that tariffs are the key to forcing companies to invest more in domestic factories. He has dismissed fears that importers would simply pass along much of the cost of the taxes to consumers and businesses in the form of higher prices.

His broader country-by-country tariffs relied on declaring an economic emergency based on a 1977 law, a drastic tax hike that two federal courts said exceeded Trump's authority as president. The Supreme Court is set to hear the case in November.

The president continues to claim that inflation is no longer a challenge for the US economy, despite evidence to the contrary. The consumer price index has increased 2.9% over the past 12 months, up from an annual pace of 2.3% in April, when Trump first launched a sweeping set of import taxes.

Nor is there evidence that the tariffs are creating factory jobs or more construction of manufacturing facilities. Since April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that manufacturers cut 42,000 jobs and builders have downsized by 8,000.

“There’s no inflation,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “We’re having unbelievable success.”

Still, Trump also acknowledged that his tariffs against China had hurt American farmers, who lost out on sales of soybeans. The president separately promised on Thursday to divert tariff revenues to the farmers hurt by the conflict, just as he did during his first term in 2018 and 2019 when his tariffs led to retaliation against the agricultural sector.

The nations and firms threatened by Trump’s pharma tariffs


By AFP
September 26, 2025


Image: — © AFP/File TIMOTHY A. CLARY

Anne Padieu with AFP's European bureaus, 

Donald Trump has shocked the global drug industry by announcing 100-percent tariffs on all branded, imported pharmaceutical products — unless companies are building manufacturing plants in the United States.

With just five days left until the US president is set to impose the harshest measures yet in his global trade war, analysts have been racing to figure out which nations, firms and drugs could be affected.

While plenty of uncertainty remains, there do appear to be some exemptions. Major exporter the European Union says a previous trade deal shields the bloc from the tariffs.

– Which products will be hit? –

Trump announced late Thursday he would impose a 100-percent tariff on “any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product” unless the company has started construction on a manufacturing plant by October 1.

The statement indicates that generic medicines — cheaper versions of drugs produced once patents expire — are exempt.

Neil Shearing, an economist at Capital Economics, said this exemption would have limited impact because while “90 percent of US drugs consumption volumes go toward generic drugs”, they account for “just 10 percent or so of spending values”.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said that “most of the big pharma producers already produce their drugs for the American market in the US”.

However there are many popular exceptions — such as the blockbuster weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Mounjaro — as well as some cancer treatments that are all made in Europe, she added.

Last year, the US imported nearly $252-billion worth of drugs and other pharma products, making it the second-largest import in value after vehicles, according to the Department of Commerce.

– Which countries could be spared? –

The EU said Friday that a trade deal sealed with the US in July shielded the bloc.

“This clear all-inclusive 15 percent tariff ceiling for EU exports represents an insurance policy that no higher tariffs will emerge for European economic operators,” EU trade spokesman Olof Gill said.

Tariffs on medicine “would create the worst of all worlds” by increasing costs, disrupting supply chains and preventing patients from getting life-saving treatment, Nathalie Moll of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations said in a statement to AFP.

Macro Angel Talavera from Oxford Economics said the July trade deal should in principle protect EU companies– but it remains “far from clear”.

Switzerland — which is home to pharma giants Roche, Novartis and AstraZeneca — was likely most at risk because the country is not a member of the EU, he said.

Denmark, where Ozempic and Wegovy producer Novo Nordisk has a major impact on the national economy, was also under threat, he added.

The pharma sector in Ireland — whose exports to the US represent roughly 12 percent of GDP, according to Shearing — was among the European groups calling for urgent talks to avert the looming tariffs.

A British government spokesperson said the UK was “actively engaging with the US and will continue to do so over the coming days”.

In Asia, Japan and South Korea are thought to be shielded by trade deals, while India mostly exports generic drugs, according to Louise Loo at Oxford Economics.

“Singapore, focused on high-value patented drugs, faces the greatest risk,” she added.

– What are pharma firms doing? –

Trump had previously threatened even steeper tariffs of 200 percent on pharmaceuticals in July.

Aiming to protect themselves from Trump’s protectionist policies, pharma giants have announced around $300 million in investments in the US in recent months.

“Although many pharma companies have pledged to build plants in the US, construction may not have started yet, as these plants are complex to build,” Brooks said.

However Trump was clear that he defined building as “breaking ground” on construction sites.

Swiss pharma giant Novartis said on Friday that “we have ongoing construction and expect to announce five new sites to be under construction before end of year”.

A spokesperson for Bayer said the German company was “assessing the situation”. Other major firms contacted by AFP have yet to respond.

Trump announces steep new tariffs, reviving trade war


By AFP
September 25, 2025


US President Donald Trump has announced a fresh round of tariffs on drugs, big-rig trucks, home renovation fixtures and furniture - Copyright AFP/File CHARLY TRIBALLEAU

US President Donald Trump announced Thursday punishing tariffs on pharmaceuticals, big-rig trucks, home renovation fixtures and furniture, reviving his global trade war.

The late evening announcement is the harshest trade policy by the president since last April’s shock unveiling of reciprocal tariffs on virtually every US trading partner across the globe.

Starting October 1, “we will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America,” the Republican wrote on his Truth Social platform.

In a separate post, he wrote of a 25 percent tariff on “all ‘Heavy (Big) Trucks’ made in other parts of the world” to support US manufacturers such as “Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack Trucks and others.”

Foreign companies that compete with these manufacturers in the US market include Sweden’s Volvo and Germany’s Daimler, which includes brands Freightliner and Western Star.

Shares in both companies were sharply lower in after-hours trading in Europe.

Trump said the truck tariffs were “for many reasons, but above all else, for National Security purposes!”

Earlier this year, the Trump administration launched a so-called Section 232 probe into imports of trucks to “determine the effects of national security,” setting the stage for Thursday’s announcement.

Section 232 is a trade law provision that gives the president broad authority to impose tariffs or other restrictions on imports when they’re deemed a threat to national security.

Trump has made extensive use of Section 232 to initiate investigations and impose tariffs on imported goods as part of his efforts to bolster US manufacturing and punish countries that he says are taking advantage of the US.

The real estate tycoon also targeted home renovation materials, writing “We will be imposing a 50% Tariff on all Kitchen Cabinets, Bathroom Vanities and associated products,” as of October 1.

“Additionally, we will be charging a 30% Tariff on Upholstered Furniture,” he added.

According to the United States International Trade Commission, in 2022 imports, mainly from Asia, represented 60 percent of all furniture sold, including 86 percent of all wood furniture and 42 percent of all upholstered furniture.

Shares in home furniture retailers Wayfair and Williams Sonoma, which depend on these imported goods, tumbled in after-hours trading following the announcement.

The tariff onslaught will rekindle fears over inflation in the US economy, the world’s biggest.

Trump is on a mission to rebuild manufacturing through protectionist policies that mark a complete reversal of modern US policy to maintain an open and import-dependent economy.

His administration has imposed a baseline 10 percent tariff on all countries, with higher individualized rates on nations where exports to the US far exceed imports.

The president has also used emergency powers to impose extra tariffs on trade deal partners Canada and Mexico, as well as on China, citing concerns over fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration.

It was not yet clear how these new tariffs that kick in next week would factor into the existing measures.

STATE MONOPOLY CAPITALI$M

Heavy hand: Free-market US tested as Trump takes stakes in private companies

“Is Trump a State Capitalist?”

By AFP
September 25, 2025


As a condition of allowing the sales of US Steel to Nippon, President Donald Trump demanded a government 'golden share' in the enteprise 

- Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Drew Angerer

The Trump administration is in talks to take an equity stake in Lithium Americas, which would insert the government into another private enterprise in the latest challenge to American free-market traditions.

The move comes on the heels of Trump announcements establishing government holdings in struggling semiconductor giant Intel and the rare earth company MP Materials. Trump also secured a “golden share” for Washington in United States Steel as a condition of its sale to Japan’s Nippon Steel.

Talks are still ongoing on the Lithium Americas stake, part of a renegotiation of a US Department of Energy loan held by the Canadian mining company and General Motors, said a Trump administration official.

The White House has characterized the stock holding arrangements as a boon for taxpayers that points to Trump’s prowess as a dealmaker, while asserting that day-to-day management will be left to companies.

But free-market advocates have reacted with various degrees of alarm to a trend they see as undermining the strength of the US system and stoking crony capitalism. In the US system, the government sets up the rules governing the private sector but generally stays out of it thereafter as firms respond to market signals.

“It undermines competition,” said Fred Ashton, director of competition policy at American Action Forum, who believes inserting the state into private enterprise leads to inefficiency and benefits politically favored firms over those less connected.

“We know the president likes to win so there’s no way the government lets these firms fail,” Ashton said.

Trump administration officials recently made use of the US Steel golden share. The company had planned to keep paying 800 workers while idling an Illinois factory, but decided to keep the plant running after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick invoked the golden share, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

“You need to let an executive of the company conclude the best use of the capital,” said governance expert Charles Elson of the University of Delaware, who criticized the White House intervention.

“The government is not in the business of picking winners and losers in the capital system,” he said. “That’s why we have a capital system.”


– Bipartisan consensus –

It is not unprecedented for the US government to hold equity stakes. In response to the 2008 financial crisis, the US government amassed holdings in insurer AIG, General Motors and fellow automaker Chrysler as a condition of government support packages.

But the Treasury Department sold off the shares after the crisis ended, reflecting a bipartisan consensus, according to Michael Strain of the American Enterprise Institute think tank, who said presidents from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama embraced the free market.

“Obama would have laughed out of the room the suggestion that the government take an equity stake in a manufacturing company,” Strain said in a recent column that also criticized the White House’s tying of Nvidia and AMD export licenses to payments to the government.

Obama “understood that in America’s system of democratic capitalism, the government does not own or shake down private companies,” Strain said in the piece headlined “Is Trump a State Capitalist?”

Strain, in an interview, predicted a “massive amount of crony capitalism” under Trump compared with the norm, but said the shifts will be too limited to significantly tilt the US macroeconomy given its size and tradition.

Ashton said he agrees that US status as a free market economy is not seriously in question. But he believes Trump’s conduct is distorting company behavior, noting reports that Apple may take a stake in Intel following Apple CEO Tim Cook’s August White House visit when he presented Trump with a 24-carat gold piece.

“It’s become so murky,” Ashton said. “We don’t know whether it’s a business decision because it’s a business decision or whether it’s a business decision because they have to please the White House in some way.

New York’s finance sector faces risks from Trump visa crackdown


By AFP
September 24, 2025


Image: — © Digital Journal.

Corin FAIFE

On a bright September morning, employees stream through the turnstiles and vast lobby of Goldman Sachs’ headquarters in the sunlit Battery Park City neighborhood of Manhattan.

More than 9,000 people work at the investment bank’s New York head office.

And hundreds of them depend on the H-1B skilled worker visa, recently targeted by the Trump administration for a dramatic overhaul.

A September 19 order by President Donald Trump mandates $100,000 payments from companies for every new hire through the program.

Though the major impact will be on the tech sector — the largest source of H-1B hiring — financial companies like Goldman Sachs will also be forced to re-evaluate their practice of hiring from abroad.

– Concentration in New York

In the first two quarters of 2025, Goldman Sachs was the biggest recipient of H-1B visas in New York City. The Big Apple was, in turn, the single location with the most H-1B recipients in all of the United States.

Aggregated at the state level, California and Texas both attract more H-1B visa holders than the state of New York; but there is no one city or town in either of these states that boasts a higher number of H-1B holders than the east coast metropolis.

This concentration of H-1B visas in New York is driven by hiring at Wall Street’s financial giants.

Data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services analyzed by AFP shows that four of the top five H-1B visa recipients in New York City are financial services companies: the investment banks Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup, and financial data company Bloomberg.

The other company in the top five is the consulting and professional services firm McKinsey.

Goldman Sachs is among financial service firms based in Lower Manhattan that employ large numbers of skilled foreign workers whose H-1B visa status could be jeopardized through recent actions by the US government – Copyright AFP/File Johannes EISELE

Further down the list, and outside of the finance sector, universities such as Columbia and NYU and medical institutions like the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weil Cornell Medical College also brought a number of H-1B hires to the city.

– Negative impacts

According to 2025 data, H-1B positions filled by the banks skewed towards the more technical side of the finance industry, with many visa holders working in software engineering, quantitative analytics, and data science.

Goldman Sachs did not respond to emailed questions asking how a $100,000 price tag would impact their ability to hire for such roles in the future.

Contacted by AFP with similar questions, Bloomberg and Citigroup declined to comment.

In general, experts believe the fee will lead to a large reduction in applications for the visa scheme, which could have further negative impacts on the economy.

“A visa fee of this scale is likely to drastically curtail the use of H-1B visas,” Ethan G. Lewis, Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, told AFP.

“It will lead to reduced hires of US workers and slower productivity growth, and, longer term, discourage people [from other countries] from going to college and beyond in the US, because many tend to rely on H-1B visas for their first job out of studies.”

In the tech industry the announcement of the visa fee has caused consternation, with many entrepreneurs — among them Trump’s ally Elon Musk — warning that the US will not be able to fill highly skilled roles with only homegrown talent.

Others have speculated that, rather than being offered to American workers, some jobs will simply be outsourced overseas.

Tech migrants ‘key’ for US growth, warns OECD chief economist


By AFP

September 23, 2025


Alvaro Pereira said high-skilled migrants were a 'key strength' of the US economy - Copyright AFP STR

Ali BEKHTAOUI

High-skilled migrants are vital for the US economy, the OECD’s chief economist told AFP, after the United States imposed a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas widely used by the tech industry.

Alvaro Pereira, who is leaving his post after being named governor of Portugal’s central bank, spoke to AFP as the Paris-based organisation released an updated outlook for the world economy.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a 38-member grouping of wealthy nations, upgraded the forecast to 3.2 percent growth in 2025, up from 2.9 percent in its last report in June.

The OECD said the economy “proved more resilient than anticipated” in the first half of the year as companies rushed to import goods before US President Donald Trump’s tariffs took effect.

It also raised the US growth outlook from 1.6 percent to 1.8 percent but warned it was expected to slow as higher tariffs start to bite.

The OECD said cuts in the US federal workforce and Trump’s crackdown on immigration would also soften growth.

“There’s obviously less labour growth and less labour growth means that obviously this will impact total GDP,” Pereira told AFP.

He noted that the report was written before the new H-1B visa fee rule came into force over the weekend.

“We do think that continuing to attract high-skilled individuals from the United States or from around the world is a key strength of the US economy,” Pereira said.

“This will only become exacerbated with the AI boom, because basically there’s significant labour shortages in the ICT (information and communication technology) sector.”

H-1B visas allow companies to sponsor foreign workers with specialised skills — such as scientists, engineers and computer programmers — to work in the US, initially for three years but extendable to six.

Such visas are widely used by the tech industry. Indian nationals account for nearly three-quarters of the permits allotted via lottery system each year.

The US and Germany are the two OECD countries with the highest labour shortage in the ICT sector, Pereira said.

– Tariff impact taking ‘longer’ –

The OECD report said the impact of Trump’s tariffs had been mitigated by companies “front-loading” — importing goods before the levies came into force.

“The impact of tariffs is taking longer to reach the economy,” Pereira said.

“A lot of firms decided to act and export a stockpile (to) the United States … to avoid the tariffs.”

But he warned that the OECD was already seeing “less growth and more inflation” than expected.

“Usually when the world economy is doing really well, it’s growing around four percent, so were far away from that,” he said.

Ethical robots and AI take centre stage in ‘robot theatre’


By Dr. Tim Sandle
SCIENCE EDITOR

DIGITAL JOURNAL
September 24, 2025


Robot for interactive play. — Image by © Tim Sandle

Virginia Tech researchers have received a grant worth more than $500,000 from the U.S. National Science Foundation. This money is to be used to expand robot theatre, an after-school programme designed to help children to explore robotics through performance-based learning.

We occupy a world where human-robot interaction is constantly evolving. This means that learning to interact with machines at an early stage can confer many advantages. Through the programme, grade school children can gain firsthand experience collaborating with robots using art as a medium.

With the initiative, students can spend afternoons dancing with robots, acting alongside them, using them to make music.

The after-school programme engages children through four creative modules: acting, dance, music and sound, and drawing. Each week includes structured learning and free play, giving students time to explore both creative expression and technical curiosity.

Older children sometimes learn simple coding during free play, but the program’s focus remains on embodied learning, like using movement and play to introduce ideas about technology and ethics.

Myounghoon “Philart” Jeon, professor of industrial and systems engineering in the College of Engineering, came up with the idea for the programme in 2015 while at Michigan Technological University.

Jeon launched the first robot theatre program the following year and has spent nearly a decade refining the experience and collaborating across disciplines to bring robotics education to children throughout the community.

“The idea is to help children learn about science, technology, engineering, arts, and math while using robots,” Jeon explains. “The programme culminates in a performance where the children and robots act on stage together. Now, we’ve added a strong focus on robot and AI [artificial intelligence] ethics, and we want to learn more about what teachers and students need from the program as we develop a curriculum to share.”

Building on the success to date, the grant will enable researchers to add a sharper focus on AI ethics, conduct needs assessments with educators and children and formalize the curriculum so it can be shared more broadly.

Understanding students’ knowledge about AI, robots, and their literacy in these areas is a key goal. The next wave will begin to focus on social and ethical boundaries to ensure students use these technologies responsibly now and in the future. This includes integrating the programme with climate change awareness.

The grant will further the team to formalise the programme’s foundation through literature reviews, focus groups, and workshops with educators and children. This additional research will help identify how young learners currently encounter ideas about robotics and AI and where gaps exist in teaching ethical considerations.

The expanded curriculum is set to weave in topics such as fairness, privacy, and bias in technology, inviting children to think critically about how robots and AI systems affect people’s lives. These concepts will be introduced not as abstract lessons or coding, but through storytelling, performance, and play.