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Tom Jones

Elon Musk probably won’t be dropping $290 million on next year’s midterms

In an interview with Bloomberg yesterday, the Tesla chief revealed that he’ll cut back on political spending going forward, answering, “I think I’ve done enough,” when pressed further.

Musk said a lot across the 40-minute conversation at the Qatar Economic Forum, from pointing out that he can’t be CEO if he’s dead to asserting that the EV giant’s slumping sales have “already turned around.”

While Musk didn’t completely rule out a return to political spending in the future, it seems unlikely that he’ll match the bumper $291.5 million bill he racked up between 2023-24.

Political donor chart
Sherwood News

It only took the South African billionaire about six months to become the biggest donor of the cycle, after his first $5 million contribution to America PAC landed on July 3, per data from OpenSecrets.

According to the nonprofit’s list of top political donors from 2023-24, all of Musk’s donations went to Republican causes and campaigns, like the majority of the contributors on the ranking. Indeed, Michael Bloomberg and Facebook and Asana cofounder Dustin Moskovitz were the only majority Democrat donors to break the top 10.

Along with his recent shift away from DOGE responsibilities, Musk’s political spending pullback will likely be music to the ears of stakeholders at his companies, whose concerns about the CEO’s attentions have been well reported.

Musk Says He’ll Scale Back Political Spending in Blow to GOP

Musk Says He’ll Scale Back Political Spending in Blow to GOP

While Musk didn’t completely rule out a return to political spending in the future, it seems unlikely that he’ll match the bumper $291.5 million bill he racked up between 2023-24.

Political donor chart
Sherwood News

It only took the South African billionaire about six months to become the biggest donor of the cycle, after his first $5 million contribution to America PAC landed on July 3, per data from OpenSecrets.

According to the nonprofit’s list of top political donors from 2023-24, all of Musk’s donations went to Republican causes and campaigns, like the majority of the contributors on the ranking. Indeed, Michael Bloomberg and Facebook and Asana cofounder Dustin Moskovitz were the only majority Democrat donors to break the top 10.

Along with his recent shift away from DOGE responsibilities, Musk’s political spending pullback will likely be music to the ears of stakeholders at his companies, whose concerns about the CEO’s attentions have been well reported.

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Jon Keegan

European regulators will examine if Apple’s maps and ads businesses require stricter oversight

Apple has notified European regulators that its Apple Maps and Apple Ads platforms meet the threshold to be called “gatekeepers” under the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act, the European Commission said.

European antitrust regulators will now examine if the tech giant’s Maps and Ads units should be subject to stricter regulation. According to the DMA, when a platform reaches 45 million monthly active users and a market cap of €75 billion ($79 billion), it triggers the “gatekeeper” designation and additional rules apply.

While Apple notified regulators that the threshold has been met, it is pushing back on the designation, saying in a rebuttal to rule makers that the platforms are actually relatively small compared to the competition in Europe and should be excluded. The EC has 45 working days to make a final determination about the designation, and Apple would have six months to comply, Reuters reported.

EU to examine if Apple Ads and Maps subject to tough rules, Apple says no

EU to examine if Apple Ads and Maps subject to tough rules, Apple says no

European antitrust regulators will now examine if the tech giant’s Maps and Ads units should be subject to stricter regulation. According to the DMA, when a platform reaches 45 million monthly active users and a market cap of €75 billion ($79 billion), it triggers the “gatekeeper” designation and additional rules apply.

While Apple notified regulators that the threshold has been met, it is pushing back on the designation, saying in a rebuttal to rule makers that the platforms are actually relatively small compared to the competition in Europe and should be excluded. The EC has 45 working days to make a final determination about the designation, and Apple would have six months to comply, Reuters reported.

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Jon Keegan

Delhi High Court says Apple could face $38 billion penalty in Indian antitrust case

India’s Delhi High Court says that Apple could face a penalty as high as $38 billion for what its investigators describe as “abusive conduct” related to the tech giant’s app store, Reuters reports.

Apple is challenging the constitutionality of the country’s new antitrust law, taking specific issue with the fact that penalties are calculated based on companies’ total annual global revenue, rather than just revenue derived from India.

That global figure could mean fines as high as $38 billion, according to a court filing seen by Reuters.

The Competition Commission of India has not issued a final ruling in the case.

Apple contests India's antitrust penalty law with risk of $38 billion fine, filing shows

Apple contests India's antitrust penalty law with risk of $38 billion fine, filing shows

That global figure could mean fines as high as $38 billion, according to a court filing seen by Reuters.

The Competition Commission of India has not issued a final ruling in the case.

power
Jon Keegan

Anthropic CEO Amodei asked to testify before Congress about Claude-powered Chinese cyberattack, Axios reports

Earlier this month, Anthropic revealed that Chinese state actors had used its Claude chatbot to orchestrate and execute a cyber espionage campaign for the first time. The company said that after it detected its product was being used in that manner, it was able to respond and disrupt malicious behavior.

Now, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has been called to testify before the House Committee on Homeland Security, along with Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kuria and Quantum Xchange CEO Eddy Zervigon, Axios reports.

The House committee is seeking information about how nation-state actors are using AI agents to devise and execute novel cyberattacks, like the one that Anthropic disrupted.

Exclusive: Anthropic CEO called to testify before Congress about Chinese AI cyberattack

Exclusive: Anthropic CEO called to testify before Congress about Chinese AI cyberattack

The House committee is seeking information about how nation-state actors are using AI agents to devise and execute novel cyberattacks, like the one that Anthropic disrupted.

power
Max Knoblauch

Joby sues Archer, accusing its air taxi rival of stealing trade secrets

The rivalry between two much-hyped air taxi companies is heating up, as Joby Aviation has sued Archer Aviation, alleging the latter stole its trade secrets and used them to undercut a partnership deal in an act of “corporate espionage, planned and premeditated.”

Archer called the lawsuit “baseless litigation” without merit in a statement to CNBC.

The lawsuit alleges that this summer, Joby’s US state and local policy lead, George Kivork, was recruited by Archer. The company alleges that two days before announcing his resignation from Joby, Kivork downloaded “dozens” of files and sent additional material to his personal email account.

The following month, the lawsuit states that a strategic partner that had worked with Kivork while at Joby told the company it had been approached by Archer with a more lucrative deal.

Boeing’s air taxi subsidiary, Wisk, sued Archer in 2021, accusing the latter of “brazen theft” of confidential information and intellectual property.

Archer and Joby are both racing to develop electric air taxis for use in commercial flight. Each has also struck deals with major defense contractors.

Joby lawsuit accuses air taxi rival Archer of using stolen information to 'one-up' deal

Joby lawsuit accuses air taxi rival Archer of using stolen information to 'one-up' deal

The lawsuit alleges that this summer, Joby’s US state and local policy lead, George Kivork, was recruited by Archer. The company alleges that two days before announcing his resignation from Joby, Kivork downloaded “dozens” of files and sent additional material to his personal email account.

The following month, the lawsuit states that a strategic partner that had worked with Kivork while at Joby told the company it had been approached by Archer with a more lucrative deal.

Boeing’s air taxi subsidiary, Wisk, sued Archer in 2021, accusing the latter of “brazen theft” of confidential information and intellectual property.

Archer and Joby are both racing to develop electric air taxis for use in commercial flight. Each has also struck deals with major defense contractors.

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Meta wins in FTC antitrust trial

The five-year-long case results in another big win for Big Tech as companies evade aging antitrust laws.

Jon Keegan11/18/25

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