logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2025
11m 31s

Elon Musk transforms Wisconsin court rac...

Financial Times
About this episode

Google’s artificial intelligence arm DeepMind has been holding back the release of its world-renowned research, and Elon Musk has poured an unprecedented amount of money into a Wisconsin state supreme court race. Plus, Lebanon’s new central bank governor Karim Souaid has been mired in controversy. 


Mentioned in this podcast:

DeepMind slows down research releases in battle to keep competitive edge

The people vs Elon Musk: billionaire transforms Wisconsin court contest

Lebanon closes in on next central bank head


The FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon, Sonja Hutson, Kasia Broussalian, Ethan Plotkin, Lulu Smyth, and Marc Filippino. Additional help from Breen Turner, Sam Giovinco, Peter Barber, Michael Lello, David da Silva and Gavin Kallmann. Our engineer is Joseph Salcedo. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music.


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
Extended chat: Top US trade official defends Trump’s record
US trade representative Jamieson Greer is President Donald Trump’s top trade official. He has played a critical role in negotiations between Washington and its trading partners. This includes recent talks with Canada, whose retaliatory tariffs against the US go into effect later ... Show More
19m 47s
Yesterday
Top US trade official reveals ‘problem’ in UK negotiations
The US trade representative says the UK is choosing the EU over America and Deutsche Bank organised almost $1bn of loans to a Hollywood studio landlord now in default. Plus, Nvidia has agreed to buy AI model platform Hugging Face for $13bn, and a look at how chicken became the wo ... Show More
12m 39s
Sep 3
Uber teams up with driver unions to fight robotaxis
Auditors warned Guggenheim Partners about weak controls within its business, and Uber is teaming up with driver unions to try to slow the rollout of robotaxis. Plus, US oil major Chevron and Italy’s Eni are boosting investment in oil production in Venezuela.Mentioned in this podc ... Show More
11m 11s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2025
Musk in Wisconsin, Trump's law firm fight and Kurds in Turkey
Elon Musk hands out million-dollar checks in Wisconsin ahead of a closely contested Supreme Court election. U.S. President Donald Trump’s attacks on major law firms. And, Turkey's crackdown on President Tayyip Erdogan's main rival erodes peace process hopes among Kurds. Find our ... Show More
12m 34s
Feb 2025
DOGE's Quest To Reshape Government Continues
The unit, led by Elon Musk, has run into legal obstacles as it continues its rapid efforts to change the way the federal government functions. We look at the latest developments.This episode: White House correspondents Asma Khalid and Franco Ordoñez, and State Department correspo ... Show More
12m 49s
Mar 2025
One Thing: Why Musk Is Pouring Millions into Wisconsin
Elon Musk and other outside groups have poured millions of dollars into advertising and organizing ahead of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election on Tuesday. We hear about why the outcome could tell us something about the national political mood early into the second Trump administr ... Show More
20m 7s
Apr 2025
Is Elon Musk leaving the White House?
There was a bright spot for Democrats this week after a liberal judge beat her conservative rival in the most expensive judicial election in US history. Susan Crawford beat Brad Schimel despite being backed by President Donald Trump's billionaire adviser Elon Musk. The results ca ... Show More
32m 56s
Feb 2025
Elon Musk: agent of chaos
On today's episode, once again, it's OpenAI and DOGE. And some other things! Nilay and David start the show by talking about Elon Musk's surprise bid to buy the nonprofit arm of OpenAI, along with the company's plans for new models and new rules for those models. After that, The ... Show More
1h 47m
Apr 2025
Is Elon Musk Buying Today’s Election in Wisconsin?
<p>On paper, the election in Wisconsin on Tuesday is about who should control the state’s highest court. In reality, it has become a referendum on Elon Musk, his agenda in Washington and his willingness to flood American politics with his money.</p><p>Reid J. Epstein, who has bee ... Show More
27m 53s