The scandal that led to Jensen Huang’s resignation as CEO of Nvidia is threatening to intensify the rivalry between the U.S. and China on artificial intelligence. Well before reports emerged that Huang was having an affair with a suspected Chinese spy, the advanced chips made by his company were at the center of the competition between the two countries. As President Donald Trump prepares to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week in China, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in Congress are seizing on the affair to press for tighter restrictions on technology exports to protect America’s edge.
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The Trump administration has canceled a rule mandating pay increases for teachers in the Head Start preschool program. This rule, created under President Joe Biden in 2024, aimed to gradually increase teacher pay to match local public school salaries. The Biden-era rule also proposed expanding employee benefits. The Trump administration argues the money saved could allow Head Start to serve more children. However, advocates warn that eliminating pay hikes could hurt enrollment, as many programs struggle to recruit staff. Head Start, an antipoverty initiative started in the 1960s, targets children in low-income households.
The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded all flights nationwide because of communications issues at regional air traffic control centers. The FAA notice on Friday afternoon said the ground stop was being imposed “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.” This is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023 when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned. Before that the last time had been after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
FILE - A Delta Airlines and United Airlines plane are seen at Denver International Airport on Nov. 6, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
A deadly building collapse in Brooklyn has raised concerns about New York City's oversight of construction sites. Eight people died Wednesday when a three-story building fell into an excavation pit. Officials are calling for more inspectors, as the city's Department of Buildings has a 9% vacancy rate. Contractors at the site had faced previous complaints and lawsuits. City guidelines require permits and precautions for excavation projects, but it's unclear how often the site was inspected. Experts say the investigation should examine whether design flaws or contractor errors contributed to the collapse.
Microsoft is dealing with a major outage affecting services like Outlook and Teams. The issue has impacted users, companies, and some government operations globally. On Friday, Microsoft said it was working to identify and fix the problem, while adding that there were no indications that the outage is caused by malicious activity. Authorities and officials in Singapore, Japan and Australia say they have seen impacts from the outage, while businesses in Hong Kong and India say some operations have been affected. Over 130,000 users reported issues on Thursday. While reports have since decreased, many users globally are still reporting problems.
A federal appeals court says the U.S. Transportation Department wrongly decided to withhold nearly $74 million in highway money from New York state after it refused to revoke nearly 33,000 questionable commercial driver’s licenses for immigrants. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled Friday. It said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, an arm of the Transportation Department, acted in a manner that was “arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law.” It said new tougher rules governing the licenses were not in place and that New York state had followed the rules that existed at the time. Neither the federal government nor New York state immediately commented about the ruling.
A new report says that the United Arab Emirates remains a key destination for gold smuggled from conflict zones despite new regulations on the trade. Switzerland-based aid group Swissaid found that in 2024, the UAE imported at least 591 tons of illicit gold, valued at $74 billion. Many gold refiners and traders in the UAE are not following the rules and enforcement is lax, according to the report. The report recommended that the UAE be added to an international watchlist for possible financial wrongdoing. Much of the gold went to Switzerland. Neither the UAE nor Switzerland responded to requests for comment on the report.
SpaceX is launching Starship into orbit on its boldest test yet, a 22-hour flight that aims to recapture the entire rocket at the Texas pad. Everything is on track for the planned Friday launch, pending approval from federal regulators. Elon Musk's company will attempt to return the booster six minutes after liftoff, followed the next day by the bullet-shaped spacecraft in what would be a momentous first. Giant mechanical arms will be used to pluck each segment in midair. The spacecraft will deliver 26 Starlink satellites to orbit, then complete 15 laps around Earth before tackling the grand finale.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says he was frustrated with the Commerce Department’s delay implementing controls over the export of certain Nvidia chips to China. Bessent said on CNBC Friday that his department, along with the departments of State and Defense and the U.S. Trade Representative, were in favor of adding Megaspeed to an export control list for months but that the Commerce Department was in charge of the matter.