JP Morgan boss says Trump attacks on Federal Reserve could push up inflation

The boss of JP Morgan, the largest US bank, has said Donald Trump’s attacks on the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, are putting central bank independence at risk and could backfire and ultimately push up interest rates and inflation.Jamie Dimon told reporters on Tuesday he had “enormous respect” for the Fed chair, who on Friday became the target of a controversial criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) over alleged “abuse of taxpayer dollars”.Powell has denounced the investigation, linked to a $2.5bn (£1.9bn) renovation of the Fed’s headquarters in Washington DC, claiming it is punishment for not setting interest rates in line with the US president’s wishes

Trump claims victory on US economy despite many Americans’ cost of living concerns

Donald Trump claimed victory on the economy after 12 months back in office on Tuesday, declaring it to be the “greatest first year in history” as many Americans express alarm over the cost of living.In a stream-of-consciousness speech at the Detroit Economic Club, the US president delivered his gold-tinted view of how the economy has fared on his watch. Prices were down, he claimed, despite official data showing otherwise, and productivity was “smashing expectations”.Even as he touted achievements during the first year of his second term, Trump has started to acknowledge concerns over affordability across the US, with November’s midterm elections creeping closer. The White House has moved to roll out a series of policy proposals in recent days that aspire to address affordability

Trump says Microsoft will pay more for its datacenters’ electricity

Donald Trump said he is partnering with tech companies to ensure the large energy-hungry datacenters vital for AI do not drive up electricity bills in the US. On Tuesday, the US president announced that Microsoft was “first up”.“We are the ‘HOTTEST’ Country in the World, and Number One in AI. Data Centers are key to that boom, and keeping Americans FREE and SECURE but, the big Technology Companies who build them must ‘pay their own way.’” Trump wrote on Truth Social

It’s the governance of AI that matters, not its ‘personhood’ | Letters

Prof Virginia Dignum is right (Letters, 6 January): consciousness is neither necessary nor relevant for legal status. Corporations have rights without minds. The 2016 EU parliament resolution on “electronic personhood” for autonomous robots made exactly this point – liability, not sentience, was the proposed threshold.The question isn’t whether AI systems “want” to live. It’s what governance infrastructure we build for systems that will increasingly act as autonomous economic agents – entering contracts, controlling resources, causing harm

John Higgins and Kyren Wilson win at Masters as curious run of 6-2 scorelines goes on

Kyren Wilson, the 2024 world champion, defeated Si Jiahui in impressive fashion to reach the Masters quarter-finals with the 6-2 result continuing a curious statistic: every match at Alexandra Palace this week had finished with the same scoreline. That record extended in the evening session as John Higgins saw off Barry Hawkins, 6-2, to reach the last eight.After edging the first frame following a run of snookers, Wilson – yet to win a tournament this season having broken his cue at the start of the campaign – looked set to build a maximum in the next, but just missed the 11th red into the bottom corner pocket as he moved 2-0 ahead.Si got on the board with a well-crafted break of 97 before the world No 2, who lost to Shaun Murphy in last year’s Masters final, dug in to re-establish his lead at 3-1 heading into the mid-session interval.Although Si pulled another one back by taking a close fifth frame, Wilson, looking to move on from a disappointing first-round exit to Elliot Slessor at the UK Championship, then took the sixth 82-28 before closing out an impressive victory with successive century breaks of 101 and 105

Shiffrin extends slalom stranglehold as Moltzan seals US one-two in Flachau

Mikaela Shiffrin completed another dominant night in Flachau, Austria, on Tuesday, winning a World Cup slalom to extend her season-long stranglehold on the discipline while leading an American one-two finish with teammate Paula Moltzan.Shiffrin followed up her fastest opening run with a composed second run to finish 0.41sec clear of Moltzan, claiming her sixth victory in seven slalom races this season. It was also Shiffrin’s record-extending 107th career World Cup win, her 70th in slalom and her sixth slalom victory on the demanding Flachau course.Moltzan, who was chasing her first career World Cup win, delivered a strong second run to secure second place, marking another podium in a season that has seen her establish herself among the world’s most consistent technical skiers