Robot Takeover

Hi ZipLawyer! Welcome to our weekly memo on the key stories lawyers are focused on.

🤖 Tech: Stargate launch
🤝 Corporate: Trump Tariffs
🧑‍🔧 Employment: Robot takeover
🔋 Energy: End of EU ESG?
🏗️ Construction: Airport expansions

This Week

🌍 Energy Shake-Up: Donald Trump declared an "energy emergency," cutting renewable energy funding, resuming LNG export projects, and ditching Biden's electric car goals. He's prioritising Alaska's resource development and planning major energy policy shifts.

🎥 TikTok Reprieve: TikTok’s 170m US users got a 75-day reprieve as Trump signed an order delaying its shutdown. TikTok’s CEO even attended Trump's inauguration amid ongoing divestment talks.

🌱 Green AI Efforts: Microsoft’s carbon emissions jumped 29% since 2020. To offset its AI energy use, it’s investing in Brazilian forest restoration, reflecting Big Tech's growing climate focus.

🇬🇧 CMA Shake-Up: Britain’s CMA ousted chairman Marcus Bokkerink over alleged economic growth concerns. Doug Gurr, ex-Amazon UK boss, stepped in as interim head.

📈 Netflix Booms: Netflix added 19m subscribers in Q4 2024, hitting 301m users. Successes include live-streaming sports, "Squid Game" episodes, and price hikes to $17.99/month in the US.

🤖 Tech

Stargate Launch

OpenAI and SoftBank have teamed up to launch Stargate, a colossal $100bn AI infrastructure project that’s basically going to transform the US into the global AI powerhouse. Think huge data centres, serious computing power, and a ton of jobs. The project kicks off in Abilene, Texas, and is backed by tech giants like Microsoft, Nvidia, and Oracle, is designed to boost America’s AI capacity and keep it ahead of China in the tech race. Trump’s already all in, calling it a "declaration of confidence" in America’s future. We’re talking about 100,000 jobs, and the venture promises to put the US firmly on the map as a leader in AI innovation.

But wait, Elon Musk has entered the chat, throwing shade at the project’s funding and questioning if it can actually deliver. Not much of a declaration of confidence on his side...

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