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Reports Wednesday that Apple has held talks with Intel about a possible strategic investment sent shockwaves through the stock market. Intel shares shot up. Apple, the reports said, had begun the talksinitiated by Inteleven before the Trump administration made its controversial announcement that it would buy an $8.9 billion share in the chipmaker. The governments move had the effect of attracting more investment in Intel, however. U.S.-based Nvidia said it would invest $5 billion and Japans Softbank said it would invest $2 billion. Intel is a special case. The storied U.S. chipmaker has fallen on hard times after missing the chance to supply the chips of the mobile revolution. Now its far behind in having the technology to design and/or manufacture best-in-class chips that are good at training and running AI models. The de facto alternative to a U.S. fabricator of AI chips, meanwhile, is TSMC. At the moment, the AI Revolution depends on advanced chips (most of them Nvidia designs) that are manufactured almost exclusively by TSMC, which is based in Taiwan, a small island 81 miles from mainland China, the U.S.s fierce rival in AI global dominance. The U.S. is in a big hurry to find ways to de-risk that geopolitical situation. Washington has worked with TSMC to build advanced fabrication facilities on U.S. soil, and the company is now in the process of spending $65 billion on building three giant factories in Arizona. But the chipmaker has found that setting up fabs in the U.S. is far slower than in Taiwan. Thats thanks to a challenging regulatory and administrative environment, a thorny struggle to acquire permits, and big cost overruns. The company said in January that most of its chip manufacturing would remain in Taiwan, especially for the most advanced chips. Its one thing to work with TSMC to build fabrication facilities on U.S. soil, but its even better to help a U.S. company become a viable second-source option. And Intel, it seems, is Americas best hope for that. But it will require lots of money and expertise. And the company with that expertise is TSMC. In January, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick even approached TSMC to take over Intels chip foundry (fabrication) business, which would be divorced from Intels chip design business. Those overtures apparently didnt bear fruit. Apple and Intel have a rocky history With an Apple investment in Intel, it now seems more possible that Apple (and Nvidia) would try to work closely with Intel to bring its fabrication game up to speed. Both of those companies have lots of expertise designing chips, and both have deep relationships with TSMC, which fabricates the designs. Apple has a history with Intel. The company used Intel processors inside its MacBooks from 2006 through 2020, but discontinued the partnership after disappointment with the performance of the processors. Apple also bought Intel modem chips for the iPhone for a time, but again struggled to work with Intel to get the performance it wanted. Apple bought Intels modem chip business in 2019, which gave it a foundation for designing its own modems. It put the first custom modem system-on-a-chip, called C1, into the iPhone 17 this year. Apple and Intel have very different corporate cultures, and have struggled to work well together in the past. During the work on the Intel modem, Intel engineers said that Apple wanted first priority for its projects, demanded to dictate all modem specifications, and insisted on tight timelines with little tolerance for error. Apple found Intels culture to be slower and less agile than its own. But a lot has happened at both companies since then. Markets have changed. Intel is far weaker, and Apple is, arguably, somewhat slower in its innovation. And the two companies would be working together for a greater cause than just partnering on phone or laptop components. Theyd be central players in helping the U.S. keep pace with China in AI and defusing a potentially dangerous geopolitical situation with regard to TSMC.
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E-Commerce
Along the White Houses West Wing Colonnade, portraits of every U.S. president since George Washington hang side-by-side in gilded frames. Every president, that is, except Joe Biden, whose visage has been swapped for an image of an autopen. The new portrait display was unveiled on September 24, when the White House posted images of the updated West Wing to X. The post included a header image zoomed in on Bidens spot in the lineup, which shows a black-and-white image of an autopen signing the words Joseph R Biden Jr. Its in reference to a controversy, ignited earlier this year by members of the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, who claimed that Bidens team signed several important documents with an autopen due to the former Presidents alleged cognitive decline. Throughout his second term, President Trump has repeatedly used art inside the White House to meticulously edit his personal image, trading in convention to airbrush his own legacy in real time. However, this seems to be the first time that the President has moved beyond primping his own portraits to actively disparaging his political adversaries through his home decor. Why has Bidens portrait been replaced with an autopen? Trumps choice to replace Bidens portrait with an image of an autopen is likely a move intended to insult his predecessor on an international stage. The image refers to a controversy that cropped up back in March. At the time, Trump declared via social media that some of Bidens presidential pardons, including members of the January 6 Committee, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and members of Bidens family beyond his son Hunter, were void because they were signed by an autopen device. The accusation came despite the fact that autopens, which are robotic devices used to duplicate signatures, have been used in the White House since Harry Truman. Trump himself likely used an autopen during his first term. A Republican committee, led by U.S. Representative James Comer, is currently investigating the idea that the autopen was used as a cover-up for Bidens cognitive decline. Regardless of what the committee may find, the concept of a current President using the very walls of the White House as a canvas to target a former President is essentially unheard of. For Trump, though, it’s reflective of a broader pattern. Why this represents a concerning escalation Immediately after taking office in January, Trump foreshadowed how he planned to rebrand his image during his second term through the reveal of his official portrait. Trump chose to scrap all previous conventions around presidential portraiturelike genial expressions and down-to-earth posinginstead choosing to model his headshot after his mugshot. Since then, the President has embarked on a months-long campaign to adopt a sterner, darker personal brand that aligns with his desired image of control. In February, reporters spotted a framed image of a New York Post magazine spotlighting Trumps mugshot posted just outside the Oval Office. That same month, his administration took down a minimalist portrait of former president Barack Obama in the East Room for a pop-art painting of President Trump raising his fist after the assassination attempt last year on the campaign trail. In April, a portrait of Trumps face featuring a superimposed American flag appeared between a portrait of Hillary Clinton and Nancy Reagan. In May, a painting of Trump edited together with Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan showed up in the West Wing. And in August, deputy assistant to the President Sebastian Gorka took to X to share another new painting of Trump walking through a line of American flags with his coat billowing behind him, alongside the caption: One of the new @WhiteHouse paintings of President @realDonaldTrump. More to come. Outside of art, Trump is also making several more permanent changes to the White House itself. Currently, the President is in the process of redesigning the White Houses Rose Garden in the image of his Mar-a-Lago resort and imposing his opulent, Rococo-inspired design aesthetic on a new 90,000-square-foot ballroom. In a move that almost feels closer to parody than reality, the Trump administration also recently announced plans to convert the White Houses South Lawn into a UFC arena for a 2026 match. All of these aesthetic decisions point back to Trumps general attitude around the White House: that it is less a historical site, and more a stage for his own personal endswhether that means molding the building to his narrow view of good architecture, or using its decor to squeeze in a last jab at Biden.
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E-Commerce
Most people do not put New York City and golf together, nor do they consider the game to be a team sport. The 2025 Ryder Cup is challenging these views. The competition will be held just outside of the Big Apple at Bethpage State Parks Black Course in Farmingdale, New York. From Friday, September 26, through Sunday, September 28, 12 Americans and 12 Europeans will go head-to-head. Let’s take a look at the history and format before covering how to tune in for every stroke and birdie. The history of the Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is named after its patron, Sam Ryder, a British businessman and golf enthusiast. He fell in love with the sport after taking it up to help him recover from an illness and wanted to help the game gain international acclaim. The first official event took place in 1927 at the Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts. Originally, the competition was just between American and British men, with the United States taking home the first trophy. U.S. captain Walter Hagen led the Americans to victory over the team from Great Britain supervised by Ted Ray. The Americans dominated the early years of the competition, so in 1979, Great Britains team began allowing other Europeans to participate in order to even the playing field. The U.S. still has the upper hand, though, with 27 wins to Europes 15. The format of the Ryder Cup The competition takes place every two years. The teams play 28 matches total, with each match being worth one point. The first team to 14.5 wins. In the event of a tie, the defending champion keeps the cup. The first two days involve team-based play in foursomes and four-balls formats. In foursomes play, two players from each team join forces and share a ball, alternating shots. The lowest score wins the hole. Four-balls play is similar, but each team member uses his own ball and the lowest of the two scores counts for the team. The team with the lowest score wins the hole. The third day of competition is much simpler. There are singles matches with players facing off one-on-one. Who is playing in the 2025 Ryder Cup? There are two ways to make the American or European team. The first six players automatically qualify based on past performance and rankings. The next six are picked by the team captains. Keegan Bradley, while not playing himself, will oversee the Americans. He named Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Ben Griffin, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, and Cameron Young. They will join Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English, and Bryson DeChambeau. This year, the Americans have an extra incentive to participate. They will be awarded $500,000 each for their efforts, with $300,000 going toward charity and the players walking away with a $200,000 stipend. The Europeans do not have this payday and are in it for the bragging rights. Luke Donald is the team captain on the European side. Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Rasmus Hjgaard, and Tyrrell Hatton automatically qualified. They will be joined by Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, and Ludvig berg, who were appointed by Donald. How to watch the 2025 Ryder Cup There are many ways to catch all the action. For the visually minded, the drama will be spread out on multiple television networks. The opening ceremonies will be broadcast on the Golf Channel on Thursday, September 25, from 4 to 7 p.m. ET. The following day, the USA Network gets the honors, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. NBC will air the final two days of competition. On Saturday, the action takes place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. On Sunday, you can sleep in, because the coverage goes from noon to 6 p.m. ET. Those who prefer radio can tune in to Ryder Cup Radio on SiriusXM during the same broadcast hours as the televised versions. Cord-cutters can see some selective matches on RyderCup.com, the Ryder Cup app, and NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service. If you just cant get enough coverage, Peacock will have a morning pre-show hosted by SNL‘s Colin Jost.
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E-Commerce
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