UK trade policy: time to stop the secret deals and get systematic

Trade can be a dirty business. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was tolerated as a “special representative for trade and investment” in the noughties despite allegations that he kept convicted gun smugglers for friends, while Peter Mandelson’s ability to schmooze the rich and famous repeatedly overruled concerns about his probity.To close a deal, there are always compromises to be made, and sometimes the terms are unsavoury.Britain is at the forefront of international deal making. It has been a trading nation for as long as it has existed

Dow Jones hits 50,000 milestone amid tech gains and hopes of lower interest rates

The Dow Jones industrial average crossed 50,000 for the first time, as ballooning tech valuations, robust corporate earnings and hopes of lower interest rates drive it to new highs.Leading stock markets on Wall Street came under pressure earlier this week as technology stocks fell amid scrutiny of extraordinary levels of investment into artificial intelligence.Cryptocurrencies including bitcoin have also suffered sharp falls in recent days, although they recovered some lost ground on Friday.But US equities have been rallying for months as investors largely shrugged off geopolitical tensions and grew increasingly optimistic about the economy.The Dow closed at 50,015

Battle of the chatbots: Anthropic and OpenAI go head-to-head over ads in their AI products

The Seahawks and the Patriots aren’t the only ones gearing up for a fight.AI rivals Anthropic and OpenAI have launched a war of ads trying to court corporate America during one of the biggest entertainment nights of the year.Ahead of the Super Bowl, Anthropic has launched a series of ads going hard at its rival.For the scrawny 23-year-old who wants a six-pack, a ripped older man who is supposed to depict a chatbot suggests insoles that “help short kings stand tall” because “confidence isn’t just built in the gym”. And for the man trying to improve communication with his mom: his therapist prescribes “a mature dating site that connects sensitive cubs with roaring cougars” in case he can’t fix that relationship

Why has Elon Musk merged his rocket company with his AI startup?

The acquisition of xAI by SpaceX is a typical Elon Musk deal: big numbers backed by big ambition.As well as extending “the light of consciousness to the stars”, as Musk described it, the transaction creates a business worth $1.25tn (£920bn) by combining Musk’s rocket company with his artificial intelligence startup. It values SpaceX at $1tn and xAI at $250bn, with a stock market flotation expected in June to time with Musk’s birthday and a planetary alignment.However, there are questions over the deal, such as whether it is good for SpaceX’s non-Musk shareholders and whether the technological premise behind it can succeed

The world heard JD Vance being booed at the Olympics. Except for viewers in the US | Bryan Armen Graham

The modern Olympics sell themselves on a simple premise: the whole world, watching the same moment, at the same time. On Friday night in Milan, that illusion fractured in real time.When Team USA entered the San Siro during the parade of nations, the speed skater Erin Jackson led the delegation into a wall of cheers. Moments later, when cameras cut to US vice-president JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance, large sections of the crowd responded with boos. Not subtle ones, but audible and sustained ones

Valentino Guseli’s unexpected big air dream ends without a medal in all-or-nothing final: ‘I left it all out there’

The snowboarding star Valentino Guseli has fallen short in his unexpected bid to win Australia’s first medal of the Winter Olympics in Italy, stumbling on the landing twice in an all-or-nothing final.Guseli was looking to continue his fairytale start to the Milano Cortina Games after he qualified for the big air final in “insane” fashion.But the 20-year-old was was unable to stick the landing on two of his jumps in the final on Saturday night in Livigno and finished 10th.Japan’s Kira Kimura won gold ahead of countryman Ryoma Kimata, with China’s defending Olympic champion Su Yiming third.“I couldn’t have tried harder or wanted it more so yeah, no regrets,” Guseli said after the event