• Bill Gates said he "had a really good, very long dinner" with President Donald Trump last year.
• Gates said he told Trump to retain PEPFAR, a long-running foreign aid program that combats HIV.
• Trump signed an executive order halting all foreign aid programs for 90 days after he was sworn in.

Bill Gates said he pushed President Donald Trump to maintain America's aid and relief programs for HIV during a meeting they had in 2024.

Gates told The New Yorker's editor David Remnick in an interview published Sunday, that he "had a really good, very long dinner" with Trump at Mar-a-Lago after Christmas.

"Well, we talked about the world broadly, but my first request was on HIV, where there's a question of whether the US maintains the PEPFAR program that's over twenty years standing, that keeps over ten million people alive with HIV medicines," Gates told Remnick.

PEPFAR, or the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, is a foreign aid program that was started by then-President George W. Bush in 2003. The program has saved 26 million lives and prevented millions of HIV infections around the world, the State Department said on its website.

But funding for PEPFAR was paused on January 20, after Trump signed an executive order freezing all foreign aid programs for 90 days until they are reviewed. According to the State Department, the US has given over $110 billion in funding to PEPFAR.

"I got his ear for three hours. He couldn't have been nicer. Doesn't mean that other people won't come in and say the HIV money should be cut, but I did my best," Gates said of his meeting with Trump in his interview with The New Yorker.

It is unclear what will become of PEPFAR under Trump. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a waiver "for life-saving humanitarian assistance" to Trump's executive order on foreign aid.

"This resumption is temporary in nature, and with limited exceptions as needed to continue life-saving humanitarian assistance programs, no new contracts shall be entered into," Rubio said in a statement on Wednesday.

Gates has given money to philanthropic causes like climate change and global health since stepping down as CEO of Microsoft, the software giant he cofounded with Paul Allen in 1975.

Gates was Microsoft's CEO until 2000, and was its chairman until 2014. He left Microsoft's board in 2020. Gates said in a LinkedIn post in March 2020 that stepping down from the board would allow him "to dedicate more time to philanthropic priorities."

According to the Gates Foundation's website, Gates and his former wife, Melinda French Gates, have given $59.5 billion to the foundation since its inception in 2000. French Gates left the foundation in June, three years after she'd announced her divorce from Gates. The couple had been married for 27 years.

The foundation had a total endowment of $75.2 billion as of December 31, 2023.

In April 2018, Gates told medical publication STAT in an interview that he had suggested to Trump to hire a science adviser only for Trump to offer the job to him.

Gates said he declined the offer, telling Trump that it wouldn't be "a good use of my time."

Representative for Gates and Trump did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

• Herman Ko, 27, deferred his college graduation by one semester to intern at JPMorgan.
• He managed to land a full time role there but decided to quit just over three years into the job.
• Ko said the long hours, as well as a mismatch with his career aspirations, drove him to leave.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Herman Ko, 27, a former banker at JPMorgan. The following has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified his employment history.

I wasn't the most academically focused student back in college.

I didn't have a perfect GPA, and I didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted to do for my career. I only knew I wanted two things in a job — one, it had to be prestigious, and two, it had to offer good career mobility if I ever wanted to leave my job.

I decided to focus on getting a job at an investment bank. Admittedly, I was chasing a shiny object but it ticked all my boxes, whether be it in terms of pay, prestige, and exit opportunities.

I figured that since there wasn't something I particularly enjoyed doing, I might as well pick a job that offered the maximum potential and benefits.

That said, the journey to landing a job at a bulge bracket bank was tough. When I started applying for internships, my GPA was only 2.4 out of 4.3. I also didn't have any familial connections who could offer me job referrals.

That drove me to approach my job hunt differently from most of my peers. I knew that I couldn't let my GPA, which is really just one line in my entire CV, define my application.

To that end, I experimented with different interview methods and revised my CV countless times. I networked with finance professionals to get a better sense of what life is like on the trading floor. That way, I could try to position myself as an industry professional instead of a wide-eyed student trying to find his way.

Another thing I did to distinguish myself during my internships was to perform magic tricks at events like my boss's birthday. That helped to leave a memorable impression on my colleagues.

Deferring my graduation to clinch a gig at JPMorgan

I actually secured a return offer from Deutsche Bank after interning for them, one year before my graduation.

However, in my final year, I decided to apply to American banks since they are seen as more prestigious than their European counterparts. That's when I received a summer internship offer from JPMorgan.

That presented two problems for me. Firstly, if I wanted to intern at JPMorgan, I had to give up my job offer at Deutsche Bank. Secondly, I had to defer my graduation by a semester in order to intern at JPMorgan as an undergraduate.

Although it was a huge gamble, I decided to intern at JPMorgan anyway. To me, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work at one of the top banks in the world.

Fortunately, I did well in the internship and earned a spot on JPMorgan's two-year graduate rotation program. I did four different rotations, where I got to pitch and sell cash management and treasury products to clients. At the end of the program, I landed a full time role at the bank.

Working at JPMorgan was an exhilarating experience. Everyone I got to work with was insanely smart. I learnt a lot from JPMorgan's in-house training as well as on the job.

Leaving JPMorgan and charting a new path

After working at JPMorgan for about three and a half years, I decided to call it quits. For one, the long hours I was clocking were starting to take a toll on my body.

I also realized that the work done in an investment bank is very specialized. In my case, I was tasked with marketing financial products specifically to financial institutions.

That wasn't what I wanted for my career. I wanted to stay ahead of the curve and cover solutions powered by the latest technologies instead of traditional financial products.

On a deeper level, I also wanted to challenge myself. Though I was achieving a lot at JPMorgan, I couldn't tell how much of that was driven by the bank's reputation. I wanted to see if I could still excel without relying on the JPMorgan brand.

That eventually led me to my current employer, Career Hackers, a human resources and education technology startup. My new role aligned with my passions and interest in mentoring and technology.

Even though I'm now working at a start-up, I can still use the sales skills I picked up at JPMorgan. As a junior banker, I got to learn the ropes by first taking meeting minutes and then gradually progress to lead client conversations myself.

That has made the transition to my new role a lot smoother since startup work tends to be self-directed.

Looking back, I have no regrets about starting my career at JPMorgan. The opportunities and exposure I got there could not have been found anywhere else.

• Industry and business leaders are reacting to President Donald Trump's latest tariffs.
• The Trump administration said Saturday it had imposed new levies on Canada, Mexico, and China.
• All three countries vowed to retaliate, threatening a trade war.

Billionaires, industry leaders, and executives are reacting to President Donald Trump's tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China.

The Trump administration said Saturday it had imposed a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on China.

The announcement sparked swift responses from all three countries. Canada and Mexico promised retaliatory tariffs, and China vowed "corresponding countermeasures."

Trump says the tariffs are necessary to pressure Mexico, Canada, and China to do more to stem the flow of illegal fentanyl into the United States. Addiction and overdoses related to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, have gripped the United States for years, hollowing out towns and city neighborhoods all over the country. The drug is often produced in China and smuggled over US borders.

"Trump is taking bold action to hold Mexico, Canada, and China accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country," the White House said in a statement on Saturday.

Business leaders, however, are urging Trump to reconsider, fearing a global trade war that could wreak havoc on American industries.

Mark Cuban, billionaire entrepreneur

In a post on Bluesky, Cuban warned that the new levies would cost people money and hurt businesses.

"I'm going to put my rich guy hat on and say I hope that Mexico and Canada issue equal, retaliatory tariffs and stick to them for an extended period," Cuban wrote.

"I apologize to all the people it will cost money and the businesses it will hurt. But it's the only way for tariffs to be seen for what they are."

Tobi Lütke, Shopify CEO

In a post on X, Lütke, the CEO of the Canadian firm Shopify, said he was disappointed with the US tariffs and Canada's government's response.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday that Canada would impose 25% tariffs on C$155 billion (around $106 billion) of US goods following the Trump administration's decision.

But Lütke said hitting back would "not lead to anything good."

"Canada thrives when it works with America together. Win by helping America win," he wrote. "These tariffs are going to be devastating to so many people's lives and small businesses."

Ricardo Salinas Pliego, Mexican billionaire

Pliego, the chairman of the retail and banking conglomerate Grupo Elektra, slammed the tariffs in a series of posts on X but said Mexico should not retaliate.

"As things stand, there is nothing to do but endure this misfortune imposed on us," he wrote. "Perhaps, with the passage of time, more prepared and sensible minds will prevail in the USA and things will change, but that is not in our hands."

"What we definitely SHOULD NOT DO is play the 'Boy Hero' and throw ourselves into the void, by putting MORE taxes on Mexican citizens, who are already screwed by Trump's actions," he added.

Aluminum Association

The Aluminum Association has urged Trump to exempt Canada from the tariffs, saying it was vital to help protect jobs and local manufacturers.

In a statement on Saturday, Charles Johnson, the president and CEO of the association, which represents aluminum production and jobs in the United States, welcomed Trump's efforts to "support American manufacturing" but said the industry's strength relied on imports from the north.

"Thanks to robust domestic demand and coming investment, the US aluminum industry needs a steady and predictable supply of primary, secondary and scrap aluminum," Johnson said. "Today, much of that metal comes from North American trading partners, especially Canada."

United Steelworkers

The USW, representing 850,000 workers in metals, mining, and other industries, has also called for Trump to reconsider tariffs on Canada.

In a statement, USW International President David McCall said the union had "long called for systemic reform of our broken trade system, but lashing out at key allies like Canada is not the way forward."

"Canada has proven itself time and again to be one of our strongest partners when it comes to national security, and our economies are deeply integrated," the statement continued.

National Association of Manufacturers

NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said manufacturers were already facing increasing cost pressures and that the latest tariffs on Canada and Mexico threatened "to upend the very supply chains that have made US manufacturing more competitive globally."

"The ripple effects will be severe, particularly for small and medium-sized manufacturers," Timmons added. "Ultimately, manufacturers will bear the brunt of these tariffs, undermining our ability to sell our products at a competitive price and putting American jobs at risk."

National Association of Home Builders

The NAHB said the tariffs on Canada and Mexico could increase construction costs and ultimately lead to higher home prices.

"More than 70% of the imports of two essential materials that home builders rely on—softwood lumber and gypsum (used for drywall)—come from Canada and Mexico, respectively," NAHB Chairman Carl Harris said in a statement.

"NAHB urges the administration to reconsider this action on tariffs."

National Retail Federation

David French, the executive vice president of government relations for the National Retail Federation, said in a statement the trade association backs Trump's push to solidify trade ties and ensure that the US has favorable trade conditions.

However, French called the tariffs on the three countries a "serious step."

"We strongly encourage all parties to continue negotiating to find solutions that will strengthen trade relationships and avoid shifting the costs of shared policy failures onto the backs of American families, workers and small businesses," he said in a statement.

"The retail industry is committed to working with President Trump and his administration to achieve his campaign promises, including strengthening the US economy, extending his successful Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and ensuring that American families are protected from higher costs," he added.

Distilled Spirits Council of the US, the Mexican Chamber of the Tequila Industry, and Spirits Canada

In a joint statement, the Distilled Spirits Council of the US, the Mexican Chamber of the Tequila Industry, and Spirits Canada, said the implementation of tariffs threatens the growth of trade in spirits across the three countries, a major issue given setbacks related to COVID-19 and inflation.

"Our associations are committed to working collaboratively with all stakeholders to explore solutions that prevent potential tariffs on distilled spirits," the groups said in their statement. "We are deeply concerned that US tariffs on imported spirits from Canada and Mexico will significantly harm all three countries and lead to a cycle of retaliatory tariffs that negatively impacts our shared industry."

"Maintaining fair and reciprocal duty-free access for all distilled spirits is crucial for supporting jobs and shared growth across North America," they added.

American Automotive Policy Council

Matt Blunt, former governor of Missouri and president of the American Automotive Policy Council, which represents Ford Motor, General Motors, and Stellantis, told BI that he doesn't believe that vehicles and parts that meet the USMCA's requirements — agreed upon by the US, Canada, and Mexico in 2020 — should be subject to increased tariffs.

"Our American automakers, who invested billions in the US to meet these requirements, should not have their competitiveness undermined by tariffs that will raise the cost of building vehicles in the United States and stymie investment in the American workforce," Blunt said.

Canadian Chamber of Commerce

Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, representing more than 200,000 businesses, called Trump's tariffs "self-defeating" and "profoundly disturbing" in a statement.

"Our supply chains are so deeply integrated that you can't unwind them overnight," wrote Laing, "Which is why if President Trump truly wanted to bring down costs for Americans, he would be looking at strengthening our trade ties, not tearing them apart."

Laing recounted how the US relies on Canadian imports, such as crude oil and critical minerals, and said that Canada's "job number one" right now is to build resilience and provide security to Canadian families and businesses that are "rightly scared" by the tariffs.

"If we can't trade south, let's diversify our trading partners and dismantle unnecessary internal trade barriers to keep goods and services flowing north, east, and west," she added, "A strong, united, and competitive Canadian economy will thrive no matter what gets thrown our way."

American Petroleum Institute

Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, with some 600 members that produce and distribute the majority of the nation's energy, called energy markets "highly integrated" and Canadian crude oil "critical" for American consumers in a statement.

"The US is the largest market for Canadian crude oil exports and Mexico is the No. 1 destination for US refined product exports," said Sommers, "We will continue to work with the Trump administration on full exclusions that protect energy affordability for consumers, expand the nation's energy advantage and support American jobs."

United Auto Workers Union

Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers Union, said in a statement on Saturday that his union "supports aggressive tariff action to protect American manufacturing jobs as a good first step to undoing decades of anti-worker trade policy."

According to the UAW website, the union has over 400,000 active members and more than 580,000 retired members in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

"If Trump is serious about bringing back good blue collar jobs destroyed by NAFTA, the USMCA, and the WTO, he should go a step further and immediately seek to renegotiate our broken trade deals," Fain added.

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's net worth fell by about $20 billion on Monday.
• Huang lost nearly 20% of his net worth after Chinese AI startup DeepSeek triggered a tech sell-off.
• Other AI-linked billionaires saw steep drops in their net worth, per Bloomberg's billionaire index.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang lost nearly 20% of his net worth after Chinese AI upstart DeepSeek sparked a sell-off in AI-related stocks on Monday.

Huang's net worth fell from $121 billion to around $100 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Nvidia shares plunged by nearly 17% when markets closed on Monday, shedding nearly $600 billion in market value. The shares have since gone up by 1.51% in after-hour trading.

Huang wasn't the only tech billionaire who saw his net worth decline.

Oracle cofounder and CTO Larry Ellison lost $22.6 billion, or 12% of his net worth, per Bloomberg.

Michael Dell — whose company bet heavily on AI last year — saw $13 billion wiped from his previous $114 billion net worth, and Binance cofounder Changpeng Zhao also lost around $12 billion, or more than 20% of his net worth, according to the index.

Bloomberg said that the world's 500 richest people lost a combined $108 billion on Monday, with much of that coming from AI-linked ventures.

When approached for comment, a spokesperson for Nvidia told Business Insider that DeepSeek is an "excellent AI advancement" and a "perfect example" of test-time scaling.

Test-time scaling refers to techniques that can improve a model's performance by adjusting how it processes information, instead of retraining it on more data.

"DeepSeek's work illustrates how new models can be created using that technique, leveraging widely-available models and compute that is fully export control compliant," the spokesperson said, adding that the company's products would still be needed to run AI models.

"Inference requires significant numbers of Nvidia GPUs and high-performance networking," the spokesperson continued.

DeepSeek spooked investors this week after its free chatbot app hit the top spot on Apple's US App Store's ranking on Monday. The startup's high-performing but relatively cheaper models have raised concerns that demand for AI hardware like Nvidia's chips may drop.

On Monday, President Donald Trump told GOP lawmakers at their annual policy retreat that DeepSeek's cheaper models are both a "positive" and a "wake-up call" for American tech companies.

"That's good, because you don't have to spend as much money. I view that as a positive, as an asset," Trump said.

"The release of DeepSeek, AI from a Chinese company, should be a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win," he added.

Last week, Trump announced Stargate, a new AI joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and Emirati investor MGX.

Trump said Stargate will invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure over the next four years.

• Bill Gates said Elon Musk shouldn't be weighing on foreign politics.
• In recent weeks, Musk has commented on politics in Europe, including the German elections.
• Gates said Musk shouldn't be telling people who to vote for.

Bill Gates doesn't like how Elon Musk has involved himself in the politics of foreign countries such as the UK and Germany.

"It's really insane that he can destabilize the political situations in countries," Gates said in an interview with the UK newspaper The Times published Saturday.

Musk has become increasingly vocal about his views on UK and German politics in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, Musk called for the removal of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The Tesla CEO accused Starmer of not doing enough to prevent the rape of girls when he was Britain's chief prosecutor from 2008 to 2013.

And on Saturday, Musk spoke virtually at a campaign rally for the Alternative for Germany, Germany's far-right party. Germany is set to hold national elections in February.

In December, Musk said in an op-ed for Welt am Sonntag, a prominent German newspaper, that the AfD was "the last spark of hope for this country." He also praised the party for its "controlled immigration policy."

"I think in the US foreigners aren't allowed to give money. Other countries maybe should adopt safeguards to make sure superrich foreigners aren't distorting their elections," Gates told The Times.

Musk's political influence has increased significantly following President Donald Trump's victory in November. Musk spent at least $277 million backing Trump and other GOP candidates in last year's elections.

That bet has since paid off for Musk, who called himself Trump's "first buddy." The billionaire has joined Trump on calls with world leaders such as Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

Musk is also leading Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The commission has been tasked with reducing government spending and cutting excess regulations.

It is unclear whether Musk has donated to foreign political parties. Last month, the British politician Nigel Farage said that Musk was giving "serious thought" toward making a donation to his right-wing party, Reform UK.

Gates told The Times that Musk shouldn't be making such outspoken political declarations.

"I thought the rules of the game were you picked a finite number of things to spout about that you cared for, focused on a few critical things, rather than telling people who they should vote for," Gates said.

"If someone is super smart, and he is, they should think how they can help out. But this is populist stirring," Gates added.

Gates and Musk didn't respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

To be sure, this isn't the first time Gates has disagreed with Musk.

In 2021, Gates told Kara Swisher on her "Sway" podcast that he wasn't interested in space travel. Musk is the founder and CEO of SpaceX, a rocket company.

"No, I'm not a Mars person. I know a lot of Mars people," Gates told Swisher.

"I don't think rockets are the solution. But maybe I'm missing something there," Gates said, adding that he'd rather spend his money on vaccines than buy a ticket to space.

Editor's note — Welt am Sonntag is owned by Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company.

• President Donald Trump signed an executive order on AI development on Thursday.
• Trump's AI and crypto czar, David Sacks, said the US wants to become the world's AI capital.
• Earlier this week, Trump announced Stargate, a $500 billion AI infrastructure investment project.

President Donald Trump wants his administration to have an action plan for artificial intelligence ready within 180 days.

On Thursday, the president signed an executive order calling for the US "to sustain and enhance America's global AI dominance." Since returning to the White House on Monday, Trump has signed multiple executive orders on areas including energy, trade, and immigration.

"We're basically announcing the administration's policy to make America the world capital in artificial intelligence and to dominate and to lead the world in AI," Trump's AI and cryptocurrency czar, David Sacks, told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.

Trump appointed Sacks, a venture capitalist and former PayPal COO, to the newly created position last month. When announcing his appointment, Trump said Sacks would also lead the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology.

Sacks is a member of a group known as the "PayPal Mafia" — a group of PayPal employees who went on to become big names in the world of tech and venture capital. Besides Sacks, the group counts Tesla CEO Elon Musk and venture capitalist Peter Thiel.

"David is one of the greatest in the world at AI, most respected probably there is," Trump told reporters on Thursday while signing the order.

Trump has ordered that "certain existing AI policies and directives that act as barriers to American AI innovation" be revoked — though the document did not specify which policies would be rolled back.

Trump's order also requests that existing regulations on AI be reviewed. Policies inconsistent with Trump's latest directive will be suspended or revised per the order.

In October 2023, then-President Joe Biden signed an expansive executive order on AI. The order, which Trump revoked on Monday, demanded greater transparency from companies developing AI tools.

Representatives for Trump did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

AI has figured prominently in Trump's first week in office.

On Tuesday, Trump announced Stargate, a $500 billion AI infrastructure investment project. The new company is a joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank.

The president said that Stargate would create "over 100,000 American jobs almost immediately."

"What we want to do is we want to keep it in this country. China is a competitor, others are competitors. We want it to be in this country, and we are making it available," Trump said while announcing Stargate on Tuesday.

"I am gonna help a lot through emergency declarations, because we have an emergency, we have to get this stuff built," he added.

• Saudi Arabia said it will invest at least $600 billion in the US over the next four years.
• President Donald Trump has long enjoyed a good relationship with Saudi Arabia's crown prince.
• Trump has moved quickly since taking office, signing executive orders and announcing investments.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has told newly inaugurated President Donald Trump that his oil-rich nation will invest at least $600 billion in the US over the next four years.

The crown prince told Trump about the investment during a congratulatory phone call on Wednesday evening, per a report from the state-run Saudi Press Agency published on Thursday.

According to the report, the two leaders discussed how the US and Saudi Arabia can work together to promote peace and security in the Middle East.

Representatives for Trump and Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Trump has long enjoyed a good relationship with the crown prince. Saudi Arabia was the first foreign nation he visited during his first term.

When Trump met the crown prince in June 2019, he described him as a "friend of mine " and lauded him for "opening up Saudi Arabia."

Deal after deal

Shortly after being sworn in on Monday, Trump moved quickly, issuing a wave of executive orders covering areas including trade, immigration, and energy.

He's also been working on making deals, both domestically and abroad.

On Monday, Trump signed an executive order that would pause the ban on TikTok for 75 days. Trump said while signing the order that the US should own half of TikTok if he's able to halt the ban.

"I may not do the deal, or I may do the deal. TikTok is worthless, worthless, if I don't approve it," Trump said, adding that the social media platform could be worth $1 trillion.

And on Tuesday, Trump announced Stargate, a new joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank. The president said Stargate plans to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure across the US.

"Before the end of my first full business day in Washington and the White House, we have already secured nearly $3 trillion of new investments in the United States and probably that's going to be six or seven by the end of the week," Trump said while announcing Stargate on Tuesday, though he did not elaborate on the sources of the new investments.

Later, on Wednesday, Trump made an overture to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the Ukraine war. Trump said in a Truth Social post that he was doing Russia a big favor by offering to end the conflict.

"If we don't make a 'deal,' and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries," Trump wrote.

"We can do it the easy way, or the hard way - and the easy way is always better," Trump added.

Saudi Arabia has its own priorities

It is unclear how Saudi Arabia's new investment in the US aligns with its economic priorities.

In 2016, Saudi Arabia launched its Vision 2030 plan to transform its oil-dependent economy into a more diversified one boosted by tourism and sports. The kingdom has already pumped billions into its economic pivot, with some investments going to the US.

But Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, said last year that it would focus more on its domestic economy. The PIF is the world's sixth-largest sovereign wealth fund, per the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.

The PIF's governor, Yasir Al Rumayyan, told delegates at Saudi Arabia's Future Investment Initiative business conference in October that the fund was planning to cut the proportion of foreign investments from 30% to between 18% and 20%.

"A lot of people would come looking for our money to be invested abroad. But that thing shifted over the years," Al Rumayyan said.

"So now, we're more focused on the domestic economy and we've been achieving and doing so many big things," he added.

• President Donald Trump pardoned roughly 1,500 people involved in the January 6 Capitol riot.
• The pardons were issued shortly after Trump was sworn in on Monday.
• "They were very minor incidents, and it was time," Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity.

President Donald Trump defended the pardons he issued to January 6 participants in his first interview since returning to the presidency.

"They were very minor incidents, and it was time," Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview held at the Oval Office.

Shortly after being sworn in on Monday, Trump signed an executive order that pardoned roughly 1,500 people who were involved in the January 6 Capitol riot. The order also commuted the sentences of 14 other individuals, which included members of two far-right extremist groups, the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys.

"They were treated like the worst criminals in history. And you know what they were there for? They were protesting the vote, because they knew the election was rigged and they were protesting the vote," Trump told Hannity.

The January 6 Capitol riots left five dead, including a Capitol Police officer. Some of the pro-Trump rioters were armed with wooden sticks and metal pipes when they descended on the Capitol. Trump has maintained his claim that the 2020 presidential election was "rigged" although no evidence has been found to justify it.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

During the pre-taped interview that aired Wednesday evening, Trump repeated many of the talking points he shared in his inaugural address and throughout his campaign, criticizing former President Joe Biden for his handling of the southern border, crime, and the war in Ukraine.

"They are all solvable. With time, effort, money, unfortunately. But they are all solvable," Trump said. "Probably we can get our country back, but if we didn't win this race, I really believe our country would have been lost forever."

When asked about the preemptive pardons issued by President Joe Biden, including for some Biden family members, Trump said it set an "amazing" precedent.

"This guy went around giving everybody pardons. And you know, the funny thing, maybe the sad thing is he didn't give himself a pardon," Trump said of Biden.

Trump also said in the interview that he planned to visit North Carolina, which was hit by Hurricane Helene last year, on Friday and then California, which was hit by several wildfires earlier this month. He also criticized California's response to the fires as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"FEMA is going to be a whole big discussion very shortly because I'd rather see the states take care of their own problems," Trump said.

More of the interview is set to air on Fox News on Thursday evening.

• Sam Altman's new joint AI venture, Stargate, has drawn criticism from Elon Musk.
• Musk said on X that Stargate didn't have the funds to build AI infrastructure. Altman has responded.
• The exchange between the pair is another chapter in their long-running feud.

Elon Musk took to X to post a jab at Sam Altman after President Donald Trump announced a new joint venture that Altman's OpenAI is pursuing with SoftBank and Oracle.

On Tuesday, Trump announced Stargate, a $500 billion AI-infrastructure investment project that would see the three companies join forces. Altman said Stargate would allow AGI, or artificial general intelligence, to be built in the US.

Musk, however, thought otherwise.

"They don't actually have the money," Musk wrote in an X post on Tuesday night.

Musk was responding to a post by OpenAI that said the company would "begin deploying $100 billion immediately" as part of Stargate.

"SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority," Musk added in a subsequent post without providing evidence to support his claim.

Altman: Musk is wrong about Stargate

Altman started off on Wednesday by extending an olive branch to Musk.

"I genuinely respect your accomplishments and think you are the most inspiring entrepreneur of our time," Altman wrote in reply to Musk's post on Tuesday night.

But, just over an hour later, Altman said in a separate post that he thought Musk was wrong about Stargate's financial capital. He also invited Musk to visit Stargate's first infrastructure site.

"I realize what is great for the country isn't always what's optimal for your companies, but in your new role I hope you'll mostly put America first," Altman wrote.

Musk didn't respond to Altman's comments head-on. Instead, the Tesla CEO shared an X post by Altman from December 2021, in which Altman thanked the LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, saying he helped to stop Trump from being reelected in 2020.

Altman was at the Trump inauguration on January 20 and has struck a more conciliatory tone about the Trump administration. On Wednesday night, Altman said in an X post that he changed his mind on Trump after watching the president "more carefully recently."

"I'm not going to agree with him on everything, but i think he will be incredible for the country in many ways!" Altman wrote on X.

Musk and Altman didn't respond to requests for comment.

Musk vs. Altman

Musk and Altman's tit-for-tat exchanges on Stargate aren't surprising, considering their tense relationship.

Musk cofounded OpenAI with Altman back in 2015. He left OpenAI's board in 2018.

Musk is now a vocal critic of the ChatGPT maker. He's also been working on his own AI ventures, both at Tesla and at his AI startup, xAI.

In February, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing it of violating its nonprofit mission by partnering with Microsoft. The lawsuit was withdrawn in June, but Musk refiled it in August.

In November, Musk's lawyers filed an injunction against OpenAI to stop its conversion into a for-profit entity. A spokesperson for OpenAI told Business Insider that Musk's injunction was "utterly without merit."

Thus far, Altman has been largely diplomatic when commenting about Musk. This is in spite of the nickname that Musk has given him: "Swindly Sam."

"I don't think he's a nice person or treating us fairly but you have to respect the guy and he pushes all of us to be more ambitious," Altman wrote in an X post on Wednesday.

• President Donald Trump announced Stargate, a new joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank.
• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says Stargate will allow AGI to be built in the US, creating more jobs.
• Altman said that a project like Stargate may not have been possible without Trump.

The US will be able to achieve AGI, or artificial general intelligence, with President Donald Trump's new Stargate AI project, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on Tuesday.

Altman was at the White House on Tuesday when Trump announced Stargate, a new joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank. Stargate is expected to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure across the US.

"This means we can create AI and AGI in the United States of America," Altman said of Stargate during a Tuesday interview with Fox News's Bret Baier, adding that Stargate wouldn't exist without Trump.

"I think with a different president it might not have been possible. But we are thrilled to get to do this, and I think it'll be great for Americans, great for the whole world," Altman told Baier.

Building AGI in the US would create "hundreds of thousands of jobs," Altman said at the press conference following Trump's Tuesday announcement.

"I'm thrilled we get to do this in the United States of America. I think this will be the most important project of this era," Altman told reporters at the White House.

OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

To be sure, the US is likely not close to achieving AGI just yet. Altman, too, took to X to temper expectations that OpenAI is on the cusp of achieving AGI.

On Monday, Altman wrote in an X post that OpenAI was "not gonna deploy AGI next month, nor have we built it."

"We have some very cool stuff for you but pls chill and cut your expectations 100x!" Altman wrote on X.

Still, OpenAI is developing new offerings — and rolling them out quickly. The OpenAI chief wrote in a blog post on January 5 that companies could start using AI agents this year.

"We are now confident we know how to build AGI as we have traditionally understood it. We believe that, in 2025, we may see the first AI agents 'join the workforce' and materially change the output of companies," Altman wrote.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva predicted in a blog post in January 2024 that AI's impact on the job market would be uneven. Around 60% of the jobs in advanced economies will be affected by AI, Georgieva wrote.

"Roughly half the exposed jobs may benefit from AI integration, enhancing productivity," Georgieva wrote in her blog post.

"For the other half, AI applications may execute key tasks currently performed by humans, which could lower labor demand, leading to lower wages and reduced hiring. In the most extreme cases, some of these jobs may disappear," she added.

• President Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing the TikTok ban for 75 days.
• "TikTok is worthless, worthless, if I don't approve it," Trump said.
• The president added that TikTok could be worth $1 trillion and floated a possible joint venture.

Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump said on Sunday that if he's able to halt the ban on TikTok, the US should own half of it.

"I may not do the deal, or I may do the deal. TikTok is worthless, worthless, if I don't approve it," Trump said while signing an executive order that would pause the ban on TikTok for 75 days.

Trump told reporters at the White House that TikTok could be worth $1 trillion and that the US should be entitled to half of the company.

"So I think, like a joint venture, I think we would have a joint venture with the people from TikTok. We'll see what happens," Trump added, though he did not specify who TikTok could partner with.

Several big-name buyers, such as "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary and Trump's former treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin, have expressed interest in buying TikTok.

According to the divest-or-ban law that the Senate passed in April, TikTok had to stop operating in the US on January 19 unless it divested itself from its Chinese-based owner, ByteDance.

The platform briefly went dark for US users on Saturday night but resumed its services on Sunday after Trump said he would pause the ban with an executive order.

"We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive," TikTok said in a statement to Business Insider.

Trump made similar comments about a potential TikTok ban during his first term. In August 2020, Trump said he would ban the platform unless it was sold to a US buyer. The US Treasury should "get a very large percentage" from TikTok's sale, Trump added at the time.

Microsoft expressed its interest in acquiring TikTok in 2020, but that sale did not go through after Trump left office.

However, it is unclear if Trump's executive order will keep TikTok going and prevent the ban altogether.

Under the divest-or-ban law, an extension can only be granted if the president certifies to Congress that "a path to executing a qualified divestiture has been identified" and produces "evidence of significant progress toward executing such qualified divestiture."

Representatives for Trump and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

• Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday.
• Big names in business and tech attended the inauguration and other weekend celebrations.
• Here are the billionaires and CEOs who attended Trump's inaugural ceremony.

Donald Trump was sworn in as president of the United States for the second time on Monday, and key business and tech leaders were there to watch it happen — and to try to get in his good graces.

It's a shift from recent years, when Big Tech leaders and Trump appeared more at odds.

Several of them even sat on the inaugural platform, getting better seats than some of Trump's cabinet appointees.

Tesla's Elon Musk, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Google's Sundar Pichai, and Amazon's Jeff Bezos were among those seated on the inaugural platform. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in contrast, reportedly watched from an overflow room.

Here are the billionaires and CEOs who attended Trump's inauguration.

Elon Musk, Tesla, SpaceX, and X

Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO who spent hundreds of millions helping to elect Trump, attended the inauguration and spoke at an inaugural rally Monday.

Musk has been a frequent visitor to Trump's Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, since Trump was reelected.

Trump tapped Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, though Ramaswamy confirmed Monday he's leaving DOGE.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta

Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, attended the inauguration ceremony and sat on the platform.

Later on Monday, Zuckerberg posted a photo of himself and Chan dressed for an inauguration event with the caption "Optimistic and celebrating," alongside an American flag emoji.

Meta was one of the first major companies to donate $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund, and has started 2025 with a slew of changes that appear to be influenced by Trump's politics.

Zuckerberg dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November, and was "very keen to play an active role" in the president's tech policymaking, Meta's then-global affairs chief, Nick Clegg, said at the time.

Trump was a vocal critic of Facebook in his first term and last year threatened to jail Zuckerberg if re-elected.

While Zuckerberg didn't endorse a candidate for president in 2024, he said Trump's reaction to being shot at a rally in Pennsylvania last summer was "badass."

Jeff Bezos, Amazon

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, reportedly met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in December. Amazon also donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund.

Bezos said at The New York Times' DealBook Summit last month that he was "actually very optimistic" about another Trump term, and would like to help Trump with "reducing regulation"

"What I've seen so far is he is calmer than he was the first time and more settled," Bezos said. "You've probably grown in the last eight years. He has, too."

Bezos didn't always feel this way about Trump.

In 2016, he said Trump's desire to lock up Hillary Clinton and his stated refusal to accept a loss in the presidential election that year "erodes our democracy around the edges."

Trump has also criticized Amazon and The Washington Post, which Bezos owns, frequently over the years.

In 2024, for the first time in decades, The Post didn't endorse a presidential candidate. Bezos reportedly intervened to block an endorsement of Kamala Harris.

Bezos later defended the decision, writing in an op-ed that endorsements "create a perception of bias" and "do nothing to tip the scales of an election."

Tim Cook, Apple

Unlike some of his peers, Apple CEO Tim Cook — better known to Trump as "Tim Apple" — made a $1 million donation to Trump's inaugural fund from his own wallet, rather than from his company.

Cook has credited the first Trump administration with helping Apple break into the retail market in India.

Sam Altman, OpenAI

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also made a personal donation of $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund.

Altman has stated that he agrees with some of Trump's views around bureaucratic blockades.

"The thing I really deeply agree with the president on is, it is wild how difficult it has become to build things in the United States," Altman told Bloomberg earlier this month.

He added: "Power plants, data centers, any of that kind of stuff. I understand how bureaucratic cruft builds up, but it's not helpful to the country in general."

Shou Zi Chew, TikTok

Shou Zi Chew, TikTok's CEO, was also spotted in the Capitol Rotunda.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled against TikTok on its challenge against a divest-or-ban law. The platform briefly went dark for US users on Saturday night but resumed its services on Sunday after Trump said he would pause the ban with an executive order.

On Friday, Chew thanked Trump for "his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States."

Sundar Pichai, Google

Google CEO Sundar Pichai was also in attendance Monday.

Google was among the companies that donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund.

Rupert Murdoch, NewsCorp

Rupert Murdoch, the patriarch of the Fox News empire, was also in attendance.

Bernard Arnault, LVMH

French billionaire Bernard Arnault, the CEO of luxury conglomerate LVMH, which includes brands like Louis Vuitton and Dior, attended the inauguration.

He was joined by daughter Delphine Arnault, who is CEO of Dior, and son Alexandre Arnault, who will become deputy CEO of LVMH's wines and spirits division, Moët Hennessy, starting in February.

Dana White, UFC

Silicon Valley's growing alignment with the cultural MAGA-verse was also on display Monday.

In attendance at the inauguration was Dana White, president and CEO of UFC, who was recently appointed to the board of Meta, and is a close Trump ally.

White and Meta's Zuckerberg, whose hobbies include MMA fighting, have been spotted together multiple times over the years.

Podcaster Theo Von, one of the internet celebrities Trump used to court young male voters, was at the inauguration, too, representing an ascendant realm of right-wing media.

Joe Rogan, who interviewed Trump on his podcast in late October, also attended.

Miriam Adelson, Las Vegas Sands

Miriam Adelson, the widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, was also in attendance.

According to the Associated Press, the longtime GOP megadonor co-hosted a reception for Trump on Monday night alongside Zuckerberg, Tilman Fertitta, Trump's pick for US ambassador to Italy, Todd Ricketts, co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, and Ricketts' wife, Sylvie Légère.

Phil Ruffin, Circus Circus Hotel and Casino

Las Vegas casino magnate Phil Ruffin attended the inauguration with his wife, Oleksandra Nikolayenko.

Trump had served as Ruffin's best man when he married Nikolayenko in 2008.

Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Industries

Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, attended Trump's inauguration along with his wife Nita, a spokesperson for Ambani confirmed to Business Insider.

The couple also attended Trump's pre-inauguration reception in Washington on Saturday.

Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment

Linda McMahon, Trump's nominee for education secretary and the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, was also present at Trump's inauguration.

While not a billionaire in her own right, McMahon gave $15 million to Trump's campaign and is married to Vincent McMahon, the former executive chairman of WWE-owned TKO Group Holdings, valued at $3 billion.

She led the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019, during Trump's first term in office.

Scott Bessent, Wall Street veteran

Also in attendance was Scott Bessent, Trump's pick for Treasury Secretary.

Bessent founded and runs the macro hedge fund Key Square Group and served as Trump's top economic advisor during the campaign.

If he gets Senate confirmation, Bessent would be the highest-ranking LGBTQ+ official in American history, according to the Associated Press.

Doug Burgum, Arthur Ventures

Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum was another attendee at Trump's inauguration.

Burgum, Trump's pick to lead the Department of Interior and "energy czar," co-founded Arthur Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage B2B software businesses and manages $1.1 billion.

Chris Wright, Liberty Energy

Chris Wright, founder and CEO of Liberty Energy, an oilfield services firm with a $3.7 billion net value, was also present.

Trump has tapped Wright to lead the Department of Energy, but he will continue in his positions until the Senate confirms him, the company said.

Howard Lutnick, Cantor Fitzgerald

Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Wall Street investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald, was another attendee at Trump's inauguration.

Lutnick, who has been put forward as the next commerce secretary, has been president and CEO of the financial services firm since 1991.

In recent years, the billionaire banker has become a key advisor to Trump as well as a major fundraiser.

He is cochair of the Trump transition team.

Others congratulated Trump online

Responses from the corporate world also poured in online.

Pichai, Cook, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg were among those congratulating Trump on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.

Correction: January 20, 2025 — An earlier version of this story misstated Jeff Bezos' current position at Amazon. He is the founder and executive chairman, not the CEO.

• Donald Trump has been sworn in as president once again.
• He signed a slew of executive orders on Monday.
• They included establishing DOGE and declaring a "national energy emergency."

A political comeback is complete: President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were sworn into office in a ceremony beneath the Capitol Rotunda on Monday.

"The golden age of America begins right now," Trump said in his inaugural speech.

A host of dignitaries — including lawmakers, foreign leaders, and members of Trump's coming cabinet — were on hand. Tech leaders in attendance included Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

In a series of speeches throughout the day — his inauguration speech at the Rotunda, a more freewheeling speech in Emancipation Hall at the Capitol, and a third at Capital One Arena — Trump previewed a flurry of forthcoming actions, including declaring a national emergency at the southern border and establishing an "External Revenue Service."

At Capitol One Arena, he signed several executive orders, including one that rescinded 78 Biden-era executive orders and actions. Later on Monday, in the Oval Office, he signed several more, including pardons for January 6 rioters.

Here's what Trump has pledged to do on day one — and what he's actually done.

Energy and environment

Trump has signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate accords, which he also did when he took office in 2017.

Increase fracking and oil drilling: Trump signed an executive order declaring a "national energy emergency" and another designed to ease permitting processes.

Trump's Interior Department will have the power to offer new leases for drilling and natural-gas extraction on federal lands. A last-minute Biden administration ban on deep offshore drilling is set to complicate those actions. While the White House can speed up approval and auction off more leases, it's ultimately up to the energy industry to expand production. Trump also wants to revive canceled projects such as the Keystone XL pipeline that companies have since dropped.

Government restructuring

Remove civil-service protections for federal workers: Trump has said he'll return to his sweeping first-term policy that would have made it easier to fire tens of thousands of federal workers.

On Monday, he signed an executive order instituting a temporary hiring freeze, saying it was "to ensure that we're only hiring competent people who are faithful to the American public." The order says the hiring freeze doesn't apply to the military or "to positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety."

Trump also signed a separate order requiring federal employees to return to in-person work immediately.

Create the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE): Trump signed an executive order establishing DOGE in the Oval Office on Monday, saying Elon Musk would be "getting an office for about 20 people" in the executive branch.

The order says DOGE will implement the president's push for government efficiency "by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity."

As part of the order, the US Digital Service is set to be renamed to the US DOGE Service. The US Digital Service was created by then-President Barack Obama in 2014 and provided IT consulting services to federal agencies.

Trump's order also includes the formation of DOGE teams at each federal agency. The order says each team will have at least four members, which could consist of a team lead, an engineer, a human-resources specialist, and an attorney.

Shortly after noon on Monday, several organizations filed lawsuits in a bid to get DOGE to comply with a 1972 law. In the meantime, congressional Republicans eagerly welcomed Musk's efforts and have set up ways to coordinate with DOGE.

Trade

Trump didn't impose any tariffs on Monday, saying his planned tariffs on Canada and Mexico would be imposed in February. He didn't specify a date for his planned tariffs on China, saying he was "going to have meetings and calls" with the country's leader, Xi Jinping.

Trump said on Monday that he was considering imposing a universal tariff on all goods entering the US. He added that while the US was "not ready" for a universal tariff, it could be implemented rapidly.

"You put a universal tariff on anybody doing business in the United States, because they're coming in and they're stealing our wealth," Trump said.

Twenty-five percent tariffs on all Mexican and Canadian goods: Just before Thanksgiving, Trump said he'd levy significant tariffs on the US neighbors because of illegal immigration.

Thanks to Congress, presidents can impose tariffs without legislative action. In his first term, Trump used a law that allows the president to impose them because of national security emergencies. President Joe Biden even expanded some of those duties.

A 60% tariff on all Chinese goods: On the campaign trail, Trump discussed raising tariffs to as high as 60% on all Chinese goods. He's also mused about other wide-ranging tariffs.

Trump has long complained that the US trade deficit with China is too large. The influx of deadly fentanyl, of which the Drug Enforcement Administration has said China is a major source, has only exacerbated those tensions.

The creation of an external revenue service: In his inaugural speech, Trump said he'd establish a new agency to collect tariffs and other foreign fees. "It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury coming from foreign sources," Trump said.

It's unclear exactly how this service will be set up. Customs and Border Protection is already responsible for collecting customs, and only Congress could set up a new agency.

Effectively pulling the US out of the global tax deal: On Monday, Trump signed an executive order declaring that the "Global Tax Deal has no force or effect in the United States."

This move withdraws US support for the international tax agreement, which aims to establish a 15% global corporate minimum tax. Congress never passed measures to comply with the deal, leaving participating countries able to impose top-up levies on some US multinationals.

The order also calls on officials to look into "options for protection from extraterritorial tax measures."

Crackdown on illegal immigration

Trump signed several executive orders related to immigration on Monday, including declaring a "national emergency" at the southern border.

He also signed an executive order that aims to revoke birthright citizenship, setting up a legal challenge over the meaning of the 14th Amendment.

Trump and his allies have argued that the amendment shouldn't be interpreted to apply to the children of people living in the country illegally. Multiple groups have said they'd challenge any such executive action in court.

He also signed an executive order designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

Trump said numerous times during the campaign that starting on his first day, he'd take action to begin "the largest deportation operation" in the nation's history.

In his inaugural speech, he said he'd "begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came."

Later, in the Oval Office, Trump said Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids would start soon, though he didn't specify a time.

Crime and justice

Pardons for January 6 rioters: Trump signed an executive order pardoning roughly 1,500 people who were involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

The order Trump signed also commuted the sentences of 14 other individuals, who included members of far-right extremist groups such as the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys.

Culture war

Trump said in his inaugural address that it would "henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female."

The president signed an executive order in the Oval Office that an aide described as "protecting women from radical gender ideologies," which included preventing federal funds from being used to "promote gender ideology" and changes in federal policy to rigidly define terms such as "sex," "man," and "woman" as binary phrases.

Trump also took broad aim at diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and pro-LGTBQ+ policies put in place by the Biden administration. In another order, he ended all federal DEI initiatives and terminated all DEI-related and "environmental justice" offices and positions, such as "chief diversity officer" positions, and all "equity" actions, initiatives, or programs and "equity-related" grants or contracts.

Another executive order renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, a change that Senate Democrats earlier this month indicated they'd be willing to support if the president worked with them on an economic plan to reduce the cost of living for average Americans.

TikTok ban

Trump signed an executive order halting the ban on TikTok for 75 days. While signing the order, Trump told reporters that TikTok could be worth $1 trillion and that the US should own half of it.

According to the divest-or-ban law passed by the Senate in April, TikTok had to cease its US operations on January 19 unless its China-based owner, ByteDance, divested itself from its US holdings.

Correction: January 20, 2025 — An earlier version of this story misstated Jeff Bezos' current position at Amazon. He is the founder and executive chairman, not the CEO.

• Elon Musk's X is introducing a dedicated video tab for users in the US.
• The new feature comes amid the turmoil surrounding the ban on rival platform TikTok.
• TikTok briefly ceased its US operations on Saturday night before resuming on Sunday.

X, formerly Twitter, debuted a new feature for its US users on Sunday — a tab dedicated to watching videos on the platform.

"The Video Tab has arrived. LFG," X CEO Linda Yaccarino wrote in a post on the platform on Sunday night.

According to X's promotional video for the feature, the new tab is located between the dedicated Grok button and notification panel. Grok is an AI chatbot developed by X owner Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI.

To be sure, the app has experimented with video content for years, though this tab marks an intentional shift toward displaying it more prominently. The platform first rolled out its TikTok-like "immersive media viewer" in September 2022, before Musk acquired it.

"X's updated immersive media viewer expands videos to full screen with a single click, allowing you to easily access the full, immersive viewing experience," the company wrote in a blog post at the time.

"Once the video has been launched in full screen mode, we've made video discovery easier as well. Just scroll up to start browsing more engaging video content," the blog post added.

X's new feature comes amid the turmoil surrounding the ban on TikTok.

According to a law passed by the Senate in April, TikTok had to cease its US operations on January 19 unless it divested itself from its Chinese-based owner, ByteDance. TikTok briefly went dark for US users on Saturday night, before restoring services on Sunday.

The resumption of service came after President-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday that he plans to issue an executive order to delay the enforcement of the TikTok ban.

"We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive," TikTok said in a statement to Business Insider.

X did not respond to a request for comment from BI.

Musk's X isn't the only social media company that's making moves while TikTok navigates its regulatory hurdles.

On Sunday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced a new video editing app called Edits. The app is set to be released on March 13, per its listing on Apple's App Store.

The announcement comes a day just after Apple had removed CapCut, a video editing app made by ByteDance.

Mosseri said in a Threads posts on Sunday that Edits is like "CapCut, but more for creators than casual video makers."

"Not just video editing, but an inspiration tab, idea tracking, and insights built in," Mosseri wrote in his Threads post.

"It's been months and I think it'll end up pretty different than CapCut," Mosseri added.

• RedNote, or Xiaohongshu, has taken the West by storm.
• TikTok users have flocked to RedNote ahead of the looming ban on their app.
• The sudden influx of users has created a mass cultural exchange, but experts say it may not last.

For over a decade, China's social media has been living in its own world.

Without access to YouTube, Facebook, Google, or Instagram, the country instead relies on local apps such as BiliBili, Weibo, Baidu, and, more recently — Xiaohongshu.

Xiaohongshu, now known in English as RedNote, transformed overnight into a bridge between the realms of China's internet and America's, as a sudden wave of US users downloaded the app this week in anticipation of a national ban on TikTok.

RedNote's rise was relatively recent in the Chinese space, with the app only gaining significant mainstream traction from 2018 onward.

It's most often compared to Instagram, with a heavy focus on photos presented through a grid-like feed. In China, it's been largely defined as a popular app for beauty and lifestyle content, especially among young women.

Then came the looming TikTok ban and the Americans. By Monday, RedNote became the most downloaded iPhone app in the US. As of Thursday evening, it still holds the top spot.

The sudden surge in interest in RedNote comes as TikTok inches closer to its divest-or-ban deadline on January 19. The Senate passed a law in April that would require TikTok to stop operating in the US if it didn't divest itself from its Chinese-based owner, ByteDance.

Last week, TikTok appealed to the Supreme Court for an emergency injunction to pause the divestment deadline. The court is expected to rule on TikTok's fate this week.

New US users, calling themselves "TikTok Refugees," flooded RedNote with memes and introduction videos. In turn, their Chinese counterparts uploaded welcome posts and guides on how to use Chinese online slang. Some even asked for help with their English homework.

Cultural exchange on a mass scale

It's a mass cultural exchange on an unprecedented scale.

International users typically have little incentive or opportunity to dive into Chinese social media apps, which cater to local audiences and are often locked behind strict user requirements that align with Beijing's government standards.

Weibo, for example, requires all users to register with their full names, and the app displays their location and gender to other users.

Even TikTok, founded by Chinese company Bytedance, is separate from China's version of the app, Douyin.

Cross-border interactions on RedNote have been mostly friendly, at a time when US-China tensions have dominated global politics.

"It's so amazing to have you here," said one Chinese user in a viral post. "For so long, we haven't been able to connect or talk to each other like this. But now we finally can, and it feels so special."

His video, titled "American friends please stay here," received over 174,000 likes.

Some users began hosting "cultural exchange" livestream audio chats, inviting young American and Chinese people to discuss their lives and befriend each other. One such livestream, seen by Business Insider, was watched by 70,000 users, with hundreds tuning in at a time.

Too early to tell how RedNote will impact US-China relations

Researchers and academics who study US-China relations told BI they're watching the space with interest, but that it's still too early to say how the RedNote migration might play out.

"I think it's likely true that many Chinese are interacting with Americans for the first time," said Stanley Rosen, a professor of political science at the University of Southern California's US-China Institute.

Rosen said China's government might initially be pleased by the influx of American users to RedNote, given how Beijing has criticized the impending ban on TikTok. Congressional leaders who voted to pass the divest-or-ban law against ByteDance had cited concerns about Chinese ownership.

But Rosen added that letting Chinese and American users mingle en masse could eventually disrupt Beijing's careful governance of its online platforms. For instance, a Chinese person's complaints about low pay could be met with well-intentioned — yet potentially contentious — replies from Americans, who might suggest forming a union or going on strike, Rosen said.

American users are still subject to Chinese rules on RedNote. For example, two writers from the entertainment news site The Wrap reported on Wednesday that they uploaded a post about the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests — a heavily censored topic on the Chinese internet — and found that it was taken down within five minutes.

Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, told BI that it's unlikely that any friendly interactions on RedNote would impact US-China relations.

"The tensions between these countries are based on very long-term problems," Wu said.

"I think this sort of passion will die very soon," he added.

RedNote's popularity may not last

In fact, RedNote's newfound popularity in the West could just end up being a temporary phenomenon.

Natalie Pang, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore's department of communications and new media, told BI that such massive user migrations from one platform to another haven't always been sustainable.

"Many years ago, when WhatsApp announced certain features on their platform, people also left WhatsApp and migrated to Signal, but those migrations were not sustained," Pang said.

Platforms are only able to retain these new users if their network moves along with them, she added.

"We have to understand that these 'TikTok Refugees' are moving to Xiaohongshu as part of a protest against the TikTok ban. So if we understand this move as part of a protest, then I think we'll see more sustained migration toward the platform if interest in the protest continues," Pang said.

That said, TikTok may not be out of the game just yet.

The social media platform may get some reprieve from President-elect Donald Trump, who is set to take office on January 20, a day after the divestment deadline passes.

TikTok CEO Shou Chew met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month and plans to attend Trump's inauguration.

Trump had pushed for a ban on TikTok during his first term, but has since reversed his position on the platform. The president-elect filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court on December 27, asking the court to pause the deadline so that he could come up with a political resolution.

"You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok," Trump told reporters at a press conference last month.

On Wednesday, Trump's pick for national security advisor, Mike Waltz, said in an interview with Fox News that Trump would "find a way to preserve" TikTok.

"He is a dealmaker. I don't want to get ahead of our executive orders, but we're going to create the space to put that deal in place," Waltz said.

• The Chinese foreign ministry says Vice President Han Zheng will attend Donald Trump's inauguration.
• The Trump team said in December that it had invited Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but Xi will not attend.
• Foreign heads of state do not usually attend US presidential inaugurations.

China's foreign ministry says it is sending Vice President Han Zheng to attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20.

The Trump transition team said last month that it had invited Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the event. The move came as a surprise given that foreign heads of state usually do not attend US presidential inaugurations.

"China follows the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation in viewing and growing its relationship with the United States," the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday morning local time announcing Han's attendance.

The statement said China is "ready to work with the new US government to enhance dialogue and communication" and "jointly pursue a stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relationship."

The White House, Trump's transition team, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, and the Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

'A channel of communication'

International relations experts told BI the move to send Han to Trump's inauguration is a positive sign for the US-China relationship.

"Han's attendance is significant, and even though the vice president does not really wield political power, it is still consequential, and he certainly will be able to play the role of an interlocutor and a channel of communication," Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at the Nanyang Technological University, told BI.

"Symbolically, the presence of Han for Trump's inauguration is also important to underline that political communication and cooperation is possible despite the campaign rhetoric and threat of tariffs," Loh added.

Han's visit to the US also allows China to "respectfully accept Trump's invitation without sending too strong of a signal or doing anything overly unconventional," said Austin Strange, associate professor at the University of Hong Kong's department of politics and public administration.

"China's government prefers a better, more stable relationship with the United States, and it can signal an initially friendly posture to the new administration, without making any concrete commitments, by sending a representative such as Han," Strange added.

Ian Ja Chong, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore, told BI that while Han's presence suggests "respect for Trump and the invitation," he isn't a member of China's Politburo Standing Committee, the Chinese Communist Party's top decision-making body.

"That insulates the CCP and the Politburo Standing Committee somewhat from blame should US-PRC relations not turn out as the CCP and Xi would prefer," Chong said.

"The PRC is willing to accord respect to Trump and set relations on a positive footing, but are not ready to engage with the Trump administration on substantive issues at the inauguration," he added.

Trump made tariff threats on the campaign trail

US-China relations have been tenuous since Trump's first term, with both the Trump and Biden administrations imposing tariffs on China.

In May, President Joe Biden announced an increase in tariffs on Chinese-exported steel, aluminum, medical products, and electric vehicles.

Those tariffs could be ratcheted up even further when Trump takes office. During his campaign, Trump said he plans to impose tariffs of more than 60% on Chinese goods entering the US.

In November, Trump said he plans to impose an additional 10% import tariff on Chinese goods unless China does more to curb the inflow of fentanyl into the US.

In January, Trump said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that his representatives have been speaking to Xi's staff.

"I had a great relationship with President Xi. It was very solid, very strong, very friendly. He's a strong man, a powerful man," Trump told Hewitt in an interview that aired on January 6.

"He's certainly revered in China, but they are having problems and I think we will probably get along very well, I predict, but you know it's got to be a two-way street," Trump added.

Business leaders, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, and Shou Chew, are planning to attend Trump's inauguration on January 20. Meanwhile, US companies, including Amazon, Google, and Meta, have made $1 million donations to Trump's inauguration fund.

• SpaceX's Starship rocket exploded during a test Thursday.
• The Federal Aviation Administration issued a warning after the explosion, calling the area "dangerous."
• After the explosion, some flights near Turks and Caicos were diverted, per Flightradar24.

Flights near the Turks and Caicos islands were spotted diverting to avoid debris after SpaceX's Starship exploded on Thursday.

SpaceX was conducting its seventh test flight of its unmanned Starship mega-rocket from its Starbase launch site near Brownsville, Texas. The launch occurred around 5:30 p.m. ET.

The Starship's Super Heavy Booster, which boosts the Starship spacecraft, successfully touched down back to the launchpad, marking another milestone in SpaceX's goal to create reusable boosters.

However, the upper stage of the system, Starship, was lost in what the company called a "rapid unscheduled disassembly."

Videos on social media appeared to show debris light up the sky near Turks and Caicos as it fell back to Earth.

Dean Olson, who captured footage of the Starship debris while in the area, told Business Insider that he heard the sound of constant "thunder" for about a minute after witnessing the explosion.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in an X post on Thursday night that the rocket "had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall."

Musk wrote that the leak "was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity."

"Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area. Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month," he added.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a warning after the explosion, calling the area "dangerous" and warning of "falling debris of rocket Starship."

"The FAA briefly slowed and diverted aircraft around the area where space vehicle debris was falling," an FAA spokesperson said. "Normal operations have resumed."

Flight data from Flightradar24 showed several aircraft near the Turks and Caicos Islands diverting from destination routes.

One flight was an Airbus A320-232, operated by JetBlue, headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, from Fort Lauderdale, according to the website. The flight was diverted back to Fort Lauderdale International.

JetBlue and SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

SpaceX's Starship mega-rocket has exploded in two of its previous tests.

In November 2023, the Super Heavy booster exploded as it returned to Earth while the Starship continued to climb toward space.

• SpaceX launched its Starship mega-rocket for the seventh time on Thursday.
• It performed an epic booster catch for the second time, but the Starship exploded shortly after.
• The launch marked the first flight of a new-generation Starship.

SpaceX's Starship mega-rocket has stumbled on the road to commercial use. On Thursday, it unexpectedly dropped out of communications and exploded as it screamed toward space for its seventh flight.

Shortly after Starship's explosion, Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, wrote on X, "Improved versions of the ship & booster already waiting for launch."

The mishap happened on the same day the SpaceX rival Blue Origin, owned by Jeff Bezos, successfully launched its New Glenn rocket into orbit. Blue Origin lost New Glenn's booster during Thursday morning's test flight.

What happened to the Starship

After liftoff, the rocket's Super Heavy booster heaved the Starship spaceship toward space, separated itself, and fell back toward Earth. As the falling booster approached SpaceX's Texas facilities, it nailed a complex maneuver that had happened only once before.

The booster fired its engines to lower itself to a catch tower, where a pair of giant "chopstick" arms closed around its trunk and caught it.

This technological feat is key to reaching SpaceX's goal of building a fleet of rapidly, fully reusable rockets to help slash spaceflight costs, advance the company's business model, and ultimately build a city of people on Mars.

"Kudos to you and the whole SpaceX team on the flawless booster catch! Very impressive," Bezos wrote to Musk on X about the achievement.

Shortly after the booster catch, SpaceX said the upper stage of the system, Starship itself, was lost. The company later confirmed on X that it had suffered a rapid unscheduled disassembly, which is another way of saying it exploded.

"We were just coming up to the end of that ascent burn for the ship when we started to lose a couple of the engines," Dan Huot, one of the hosts of SpaceX's livestream of the launch, said in the broadcast.

Then the ship dropped out of communications, meaning there was some kind of anomaly, and Starship was lost, Huot said.

"This was a brand-new vehicle essentially," he added. "With that, there's a lot of things you're upgrading, but there's a lot of things you're going to learn as all those systems are now interacting with each other for the first time."

In an X post on Thursday night, Musk wrote that preliminary indicators suggested Starship "had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity."

"Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area. Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month," Musk added.

Dean Olson, who captured footage of the Starship debris while he was in Turks and Caicos, told Business Insider he heard the sound of constant "thunder" for about a minute after witnessing the explosion.

"I'm just walking out of the restaurant holding a cocktail, and I just looked up," Olson said. "Everyone's breath is kind of just taken away."

"Nobody knew what was going on," he added. "There was a lot of people panicking, to be honest with you."

SpaceX didn't respond to a request for comment.

SpaceX's 7th Starship flight didn't achieve all it set out to

For the first time, SpaceX flew Starship with a reused Raptor rocket engine.

The Super Heavy booster runs on 33 Raptor engines. For the entire rocket to be reusable, as Musk has said he intends it to be, those engines must be recycled and reused, too.

Aboard Thursday's flight, one of those engines was the same one that SpaceX flew on its October flight.

Also flying for the first time was SpaceX's new-generation second-stage Starship. This new generation comes with significant upgrades designed for "bringing major improvements to reliability and performance," the company wrote on its website.

For example, the flaps on this upgraded Starship are smaller and reoriented, so they're not exposed to as much heat upon reentry. These flaps are designed to eventually help Starship fly back and touch down on land, making it reusable.

But SpaceX has not yet recovered a Starship from spaceflight. So far, every Starship that has flown to space has sunk into the Indian Ocean. The ship on Thursday's flight was expected to have the same fate before it was lost shortly after launch.

Starship was scheduled to deploy a set of 10 Starlink simulators, or dummies. They were about the same size and weight as SpaceX's next-generation V3 Starlink satellites. Deploying them was practice for eventually the real thing, which is a key part of SpaceX's business plan.

Starship is set to make other SpaceX rockets obsolete

In its final form, Starship should be able to release up to 100 second-generation Starlink satellites at a time, increasing SpaceX's internet coverage and a core pillar of its income.

Once Starship is operational, its sheer power will probably make it the cornerstone of SpaceX's business, which has long hinged on the comparatively wimpy Falcon 9 and its hefty counterpart, Falcon Heavy.

"Starship obsoletes Falcon 9 and the Dragon capsule," SpaceX's chief operating officer, Gwynne Shotwell, said at the Baron Investment Conference in November, according to Ars Technica.

"We'll be flying that for six to eight more years," she added, "but ultimately, people are going to want to fly on Starship. It's bigger. It's more comfortable. It will be less expensive. And we will have flown it so many more times."

• TikTok CEO Shou Chew is planning to attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
• TikTok may go dark in the US the day before the inauguration, as dictated by a divest-or-ban law.
• Trump asked the Supreme Court to give TikTok more time as he seeks a political resolution.

TikTok CEO Shou Chew is planning to attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to Business Insider.

Chew has been invited to sit on the dais alongside other important figures, including Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, the source said.

The New York Times first reported on plans for Chew to attend.

TikTok did not respond to a request for comment from BI.

An appearance by Chew is notable, considering that a divest-or-ban law is pushing TikTok to go dark in the US on Sunday, a day before Trump's inauguration.

TikTok challenged the law in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in December but lost its case. It appealed to the Supreme Court for an emergency injunction to stop enforcement and awaits a decision.

Trump pushed for a TikTok ban in 2020, when he was last in office, but now he says he wants to save the app.

On December 27, Trump filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court, asking it to pause the enforcement of TikTok's divestment deadline to give him time to find a political resolution. Trump met with Chew at Mar-a-Lago on December 16.

"You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok," Trump said at a press conference that day.

• Jeff Bezos' space company, Blue Origin, has launched its first orbital rocket, New Glenn.
• New Glenn is one of the largest, most powerful rockets ever built.
• The maiden launch marks a milestone for Blue Origin.

Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin has entered the rocket big leagues.

At 2:03 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Blue Origin's 32-story-tall New Glenn rocket fired its seven engines and climbed atop a cloud of fire and steam for the first time, roaring into the skies above the launch complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

"LIFTOFF! New Glenn is beginning its first ever ascent toward the stars," Blue Origin wrote in an X post on Thursday morning.

Bezos, who was present at New Glenn's launch, uploaded a minute-long clip of the launch on X shortly after liftoff.

New Glenn belongs to a new generation of the largest, most powerful rockets ever built, next to Elon Musk's SpaceX's Starship and NASA's new moon rocket, the Space Launch System.

These heavy-lift vehicles have roughly the size and heft of NASA's Saturn V — the rocket that launched Apollo astronauts to the moon — but they're designed for even more ambitious goals.

Musk and Bezos have espoused plans to establish permanent human settlements on Mars and on a giant space station, respectively. NASA aims to build permanent science stations on and around the moon and eventually send astronauts to Mars with SpaceX's and Blue Origins' help.

First, though, Blue Origin needs to strengthen its business. New Glenn's maiden launch positions the company to fly payloads to orbit and challenge SpaceX's dominance.

Blue Origin was originally planning to launch New Glenn on Monday. The launch was repeatedly delayed and eventually postponed after Blue Origin said they had to "troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue."

"I'm incredibly proud New Glenn achieved orbit on its first attempt," Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp on Thursday. "We knew landing our booster, So You're Telling Me There's a Chance, on the first try was an ambitious goal. We'll learn a lot from today and try again at our next launch this spring. Thank you to all of Team Blue for this incredible milestone."

Blue Origin loses booster in an otherwise successful launch

In a statement two hours after the launch, Blue Origin confirmed that it had lost its booster after it separated from the rocket

The booster was meant to return to Earth and land on a platform in the ocean, which would have been the company's first step to proving the reusability of its booster.

This makes SpaceX the only company to have recovered and reused a rocket's booster. The Musk-led rocket company has been retrieving its much smaller Falcon 9 first-stage boosters for reuse in this way for years.

SpaceX's Starship booster recently proved a different landing method, lowering itself into the waiting arms of a landing tower in October.

Like Falcon 9, and unlike Starship, New Glenn is only partially reusable — its second stage is not designed for reuse.

Musk congratulated Bezos shortly after New Glenn's successful liftoff.

"Congratulations on reaching orbit on the first attempt! @JeffBezos," Musk wrote on X.

Blue Origin's future depends on New Glenn

Trailing behind SpaceX, Blue Origin is one of the leading companies paving the way for reusable rockets, which can help slash spaceflight costs.

Weeks before New Glenn's debut launch, during the New York Times 2024 DealBook Summit, Bezos said Blue Origin "is not a very good business, yet."

He added, "It's going to be the best business that I've ever been involved in."

New Glenn is Blue Origin's second rocket, but its first designed to insert itself into Earth's orbit.

The company began construction on New Glenn in 2016. Bezos has said he isn't happy with the company's speed of progress.

"Blue Origin needs to be much faster," Bezos told Lex Fridman in December 2023. "And it's one of the reasons that I left my role as the CEO of Amazon a couple of years ago."

For comparison, SpaceX began developing its first orbital rocket, the Falcon 9 v1.0, in 2005. It made its debut launch five years later, in 2010.

That said, New Glenn is more than three times more powerful than SpaceX's first Falcon 9.

Blue Origin's comparatively tiny New Shepard rocket, which carries paying customers and other payloads to suborbital space, has been reused nearly 30 times since its first launch in 2015.

New Glenn's maiden voyage is carrying a test payload

As Blue Origin's barge sails the booster back to the coast, the rocket's second stage is scheduled to remain in space for about six hours while carrying the company's prototype Blue Ring pathfinder spacecraft.

Blue Ring is designed for multiple mission types, including transporting, refueling, and communicating with other craft in space. The pathfinder prototype launched on Thursday is a test launch and is set to remain onboard and not be deployed into space.

"There is a growing demand to quickly move and position equipment and infrastructure in multiple orbits," Limp wrote on X in December. Blue Ring is designed to fulfill that need for both government and commercial customers, the Blue Origin CEO said.

The Federal Aviation Administration has granted Blue Origin a license to launch New Glenn to orbit from Cape Canaveral for the next five years.

Blue Origin's customers include NASA, Amazon, and several telecommunications providers.