Nsemba, Havard, Thompson, Walters, O’Neill, Wardle, H Smith, Eckersley (all Wigan Warriors), Watkins, Oledzki, Handley, Connor (all Leeds Rhinos), Currie, Walker, Williams, Ashton (all Warrington Wolves), Pearce-Paul (Wests Tigers), Hadley, Litten, Lewis (all Hull KR), Smithies, J Brailey (both Canberra Raiders), Radley, B Smith (both Sydney Roosters), Brimson (Gold Coast Titans), Welsby, Walmsley, Clark, Robertson (all St Helens), Knowles, Farnworth (both Dolphins), McMeeken, Hamlin-Uele, Trueman, Johnstone (all Wakefield), King (Canterbury Bulldogs), Talty (Brisbane Broncos), Young (Newcastle Knights).
June 8 (UPI) — Artificial intelligence company OpenAI confidentially filed for an initial public offering Monday, becoming the third in a well-known trio of U.S. AI companies to do so in the past few weeks.
Rival AI company Anthropic filed for an IPO on June 1, and SpaceX (which merged with xAI, also owned by Elon Musk) filed in late May. SpaceX’s debut is set for Friday. All three are expected to be very lucrative for early investors, as they have valuations around $1 trillion, Axios reported.
OpenAI said in a post that there has been no decision on the IPO’s timing yet.
“It may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company,” the post said.
The company has had both successes and trials in recent months, CNN reported. Musk lost a lawsuit against it in mid-May because of the statute of limitations, and the company has expanded ChatGPT options and other AI tools and programs.
However, the company and founder/CEO Sam Altman are also facing lawsuits because of ChatGPT’s role in recent shootings and other issues. Florida announced last week that it is suing the company and Altman, claiming the company chose “profits over public safety” in creating a dangerous product in the form of ChatGPT. The state also has an ongoing criminal investigation into the company.
Individuals including the family members of those killed or injured in a recent school shooting have also sued, saying that the company should have warned authorities about the shooter’s interactions with ChatGPT.
WASHINGTON — Initial efforts in the Senate failed Thursday to block the $1.8-billion fund that the Trump administration has sought to establish to pay people who claim the government wronged them, though further attempts were likely to come Thursday afternoon.
Republicans narrowly voted down a Democratic amendment to ban the payout fund and then Democrats killed a Republican amendment, which would have prohibited the use of federal money for the fund but would have sent $1.7 billion to the Justice Department’s fraud division.
It was the second effort in Congress to rebuke President Trump in two days, following the House vote Wednesday to rein in Trump’s war powers in Iran.
The dueling amendments were proposed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). They were attached to the reconciliation bill that would fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, a high priority for Republicans.
The votes came as the Senate began a “vote-a-rama,” during which lawmakers were expected to propose a stream of amendments to the immigration bill on various topics.
The Trump administration’s plan for the payment fund — widely seen as a way for Trump to compensate his political allies, including those who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol — set off particular ire from some GOP lawmakers.
The plan has fueled growing unrest within parts of Trump’s party over his governance, compounded by the president’s endorsement of primary challengers to Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), as well as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), which angered some Republican senators.
Cassidy, who lost his primary and has since voiced strong opposition to Trump’s $1.8-billion fund, became a key player in the Thursday votes, voting down Schumer’s amendment but supporting Tillis’.
On Wednesday, Cassidy joined with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) to argue in a court filing that the $1.8-billion fund circumvents Congress’ authority and violates the Constitution’s spending and appropriations clauses.
“It is an unconstitutional attempt to spend the People’s money without Congressional approval,” Cassidy and Booker wrote in an amicus brief filed in the federal court case challenging the fund.
The fund was created by the Justice Department to settle a lawsuit brought by Trump against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. Trump and his sons agreed to drop their personal lawsuit against the government in exchange for the creation of the $1.776-billion fund. Critics immediately questioned the plan, and it drew a rare backlash from Republicans.
In late May, GOP senators derailed plans to vote on the immigration bill over their displeasure with the payout fund and with Trump’s desire to use taxpayer funds for his planned White House ballroom. Senate Republicans removed the ballroom funding from the immigration package Wednesday, another setback for Trump.
The Trump administration sought to back away from its plans for the fund this week, following bipartisan outcry and a federal court ruling that temporarily blocked any payouts from the fund. Acting Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche said Tuesday the administration would end its plans to move ahead with the concept.
But Trump on Wednesday told reporters he didn’t know whether the fund was dead, calling it “a beautiful thing.”
After Schumer proposed the first amendment to ban the fund Thursday morning, the Senate came to a standstill as three key Republican senators deliberated. Schumer framed his effort to ban the fund Thursday as a way to force a referendum on Trump’s plan.
The amendment “offers Republicans a choice: Do you support Donald Trump’s $2 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund, or do you want to protect the American people and their paychecks?” Schumer said on the Senate floor before the vote.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) urged Republicans to reject the amendment, saying Democrats were planning to “play so many games” on Thursday during the marathon session.
“We are going to fund immigration enforcement and border patrol, and I urge my Republican colleagues to stay united on that singular mission,” Moreno said.
The amendment failed after Cassidy voted against it. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Jon Husted of Ohio and Dan Sullivan of Alaska voted in favor.
Schumer’s amendment was uniformly supported by Democrats, including California Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla.
Tillis, who also voted against Schumer’s amendment, immediately proposed his amendment. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) urged Democrats to oppose it, saying that the proposal would create “a new slush fund” by giving the money to the Justice Department.
“We heard over the last 48 hours that the acting attorney general said that this fund’s not moving forward. All this amendment does is codify what I believe the policy of the DOJ is,” Tillis said on the floor before voting began on his amendment. “This [fund] is unpopular, this administration has said they’re not moving forward with it; this is an opportunity for us to put it to bed.”
Responded Merkley: “Taking one slush fund and eliminating it and then creating a new slush fund still under control of the attorney general is not the way to go. The way to go is to get rid of these slush funds altogether.”
Trump has faced a recent string of failures, including the House vote Wednesday, a court ruling to remove his name from the Kennedy Center and a record-low approval rating among Americans as concern rises about economic issues, gas prices and Trump’s war with Iran.
On Wednesday, Trump lashed out against the four Republicans who backed the House war powers resolution, calling it “an unpatriotic thing” to do and calling the vote “meaningless.”
“They’re GRANDSTANDERS! They should be ashamed of themselves. MAGA!!! President DJT,” Trump wrote.
Times staff writer Ana Ceballos, in Washington, contributed to this report.
June 1 (UPI) — Artificial intelligence company Anthropic confidentially filed Monday for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission, joining SpaceX and OpenAI in plans to go public this year.
“This gives us the option to go public after the SEC completes its review,” Anthropic said in a statement, CNBC reported. “The proposed initial public offering will depend on market conditions and other factors.”
That makes three prominent companies with IPO plans in 2026. SpaceX plans to debut next week, while OpenAI is preparing to file. Anthropic’s filing did not give any further information on timing, but it could go public as soon as this fall, The New York Times reported.
Last week, Anthropic passed OpenAI in valuation, reporting $965 billion as opposed to OpenAI’s $852 billion reported in March, CNBC reported. The company, based in San Francisco, is the creator of the Claude chatbot and the Claude Mythos Preview AI model. It has a focus on software coding.
Anthropic’s founders left OpenAI in 2021 to found the new company after concerns about OpenAI’s direction. Anthropic leaders have stressed safety in the use of AI, which caused issues with the U.S. Department of Defense after the company wanted limits on military and intelligence usage of its products.
President Donald Trump then called it a “radical left, woke company” and ordered federal agencies to stop using Anthropic products, while Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, called the company a supply chain risk to national security. Anthropic has sued the Trump administration to reverse the blacklisting, and that lawsuit is ongoing. Meanwhile, the company’s growth in the private sector has accelerated, CNBC reported.
Mauricio Pochettino has held initial talks with AC Milan to become their next manager following Massimiliano Allegri’s sacking.
The 54-year-old Argentine is currently preparing for the World Cup with the United States, but his contract expires after the tournament.
Pochettino’s immediate focus is on this summer’s finals, which begin on 11 June and are being co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico, but an eventual return to club football may interest the former Tottenham and Chelsea head coach.
However, speaking after training on Thursday, Pochettino replied “no” when asked if he had met with AC Milan’s management before being opaque about his representatives’ dealings with the Serie A side.
When asked if his representatives had had a meeting, he replied: “Maybe, possible, because they need to do their job.”
He added: “If I met someone, what happened? What is going to change if I met someone?
“We have friends everywhere and my representative works for me into trying to find the best possibility for the future. That is normal.”
Pochettino said he and US Soccer Federation chief executive JT Batson had discussed the possibility of him staying.
“He asked if we are open to listen [to] the project of the federation for the next four years,” said Pochettino.
“And we said of course we are open. Do you think that if we have a commitment with another people, we are going to waste time to listen?”
Batson said Pochettino has been “incredibly transparent” about approaches from other clubs, right from when they first met a couple of years ago, and that “there were lots of people interested in Mauricio and his team”.
Batson added: “He had standing offers from other places and he wanted to be here. He’s a big believer in what we’re doing at US Soccer. He’s a big believer in soccer in America, and he’s a big believer in this men’s team.”
Pochettino’s last club spell was as Chelsea boss for the 2023-24 season, with the Blues finishing sixth in the Premier League and losing the Carabao Cup final to Liverpool.
Before that he was at Paris St-Germain for a season and a half, winning the Ligue 1 title and French Cup.
He also had a five-and-a-half-year spell at Tottenham and reached the 2019 Champions League final, only for Spurs to lose 2-0 to Liverpool.
Pochettino, who has also managed Espanyol in Spain and Southampton, was a defender during his playing career and made 20 appearances for Argentina.
AC Milan sacked Allegri earlier this week after failing to qualify for the Champions League, in a season the club’s hierarchy described as an “unequivocal failure”.
Milan dropped from third place to fifth in Serie A after a 2-1 home defeat by Cagliari on the final day to miss out on the elite European competition for the second year in a row, although they did secure a Europa League spot.
RudyBalasko/iStock via Getty Images
Las Vegas Sands (LVS) has picked up the pace of hiring around the Dallas region. The company has newly posted new job openings that include architects, data engineers, and technical support specialists. Notably, one listing highlights the design and implementation of a casino management