Nvidia plans to make a "huge" investment into OpenAI, probably its largest ever, CEO Jensen Huang said on Saturday, denying he was unhappy with the ChatGPT ⁠maker. The chipmaker announced in September plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, a deal that would give OpenAI the cash and access it needs to buy advanced chips that are key to maintaining its dominance in an increasingly competitive landscape. The report said Huang had privately underlined to industry associates in recent months that the original $100 billion agreement was non-binding and not finalised. Huang has also privately criticized what he ⁠has described as a lack of discipline in OpenAI's business approach and expressed concern about the competition it faces from the likes of Alphabet's Google and Anthropic, the WSJ said. Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Huang said it was "nonsense" to say he was unhappy with OpenAI. "We are going to make a huge investment in OpenAI. I believe in OpenAI, the work that they do is incredible, they are one of the most consequential companies of our time and I really love working with Sam," he said, referring to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. "Sam is closing the round (of investment) and we will absolutely be involved," Huang added. Amazon is in talks to invest billions in OpenAI, and the figure could be as high as $50 billion. OpenAI is looking to raise up to $100 billion in funding, valuing it at about $830 billion, Reuters has previously reported. Huang was speaking outside a Taipei restaurant, having hosted all Nvidia's key suppliers in Taiwan, including the world's largest contract chipmaker, TSMC, in what Taiwanese media called the "trillion-dollar dinner" because of the combined market capitalization of those attending. We want to hear from you. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services.

(This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis on all things Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can sign up here to receive it every Friday evening in your inbox.) A combination of big Apple stock sales and steady gains for the share price of American Express has put the credit card company within a few billion dollars of becoming the most valuable holding in Berkshire Hathaway's equity portfolio. In mid-2023, the Apple stake's value of close to $180 billion was around $154 billion greater than the American Express holdings. Since then, Berkshire has sold roughly three-quarters of the position. Last Friday, Apple's lead narrowed to an all-time low was just $4.3 billion. Buffett first bought 5% of AXP in 1964 when its share price was depressed after it fell victim to loan fraud involving fake salad oil. Its stake as a percentage of AXP's outstanding shares has increased to 22%, however, due to the credit card company's stock buybacks over the year. If Berkshire's Q4 portfolio snapshot, due to be released about two weeks from now, shows even more Apple sales, American Express could be the new number one. Or, if AXP continues to outperform Apple, it may achieve that title without further reductions. As Warren Buffett was appearing live on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday, February 24, 2020, futures were pointing to a drop of 3% for the stock market when it opened due to fears of a coronavirus pandemic. He was, in fact, happy that stock prices would be going down. Here are the seven ways he told viewers, in effect, "Don't panic!" WARREN BUFFETT: Well no, that's good for us actually. I mean we're a net buyer of stocks over time. And just like being a net buyer of food, I expect to buy food the rest of my life, and I hope that food goes down in price tomorrow. So, when stocks are down, no, we're going to be buying, on balance. They should want to buy at a lower price. BECKY QUICK: When you're looking at the futures down about 818 points this morning, I think probably the first thing viewers want to hear from you are your thoughts on what's happening with the coronavirus, if this is a reason to panic, and if you are worried about this? WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I don't know I have any special thoughts beyond the news on the coronavirus... If you're buying a business, and that's what stocks are, businesses — in fact, people will be better off if they say I bought a business today not a stock today, because that gives a different perspective on it — then presumably if you buy a farm, if you buy an apartment house, if you buy a business, you're going to own it for 10 or 20 or 30 years. And you don't buy or sell your business based on today's headlines. If I knew what the market was going to do, obviously — BECKY QUICK: For people who are just waking up, they're tuning in and they want to know what you think about this sell-off this morning — to see the Dow down 700, 800 points in the morning — what's your reaction when you see something like that? WARREN BUFFETT: Well, my reaction is that I like to buy stocks. So, if that's a, you know, roughly, 3% decline or thereabouts — I don't know how many 3% declines I've had in my lifetime, but there have been a lot of them. But if there's something — if you like to own American businesses, you're getting a chance to buy at 3% cheaper. BECKY QUICK: Does that mean Berkshire will be buying stocks today? WARREN BUFFETT: It's — well, we certainly won't be selling. BECKY QUICK: Warren, we've talked this morning about the coronavirus, but there are people who are waking up across the country now, kind of tuning in at this hour, so maybe we should address this again. With the markets indicated down 750 points ... how do you kind of wake up and read this and think through it? WARREN BUFFETT: I don't think — it makes no difference in our investments. I mean, there's always going to be some news, good or bad, every day. In fact, if you go back and read all the papers for the last 50 years, probably most of it — headlines — tends to be bad. But if you look at what happens to the economy, most of the things that happen are extremely good. I mean, it's incredible what will happen over time. So, if somebody came and told me that the global growth rate was going to be down 1% instead of a tenth of a percent, I'd still buy stocks if I felt like the business and I like the price at which — and I like the price better today than I liked it last Friday. BECKY QUICK: Before we let you go, let's just go back to the futures again this morning because right now the Dow is indicated to open down about a hundred — or 830 points. Weakness again on concerns about coronavirus and what that means. What's your mentality today as you kind of go out and look at the stock market and decide what you're going to do? WARREN BUFFETT: We're buying businesses to own for 20 or 30 years. They're called stocks when we buy them in part. Berkshire Cash as of September 30: $381.7 billion (Up 10.9% from June 30) Excluding Rail Cash and Subtracting T-Bills Payable: $354.3 billion (Up 4.3% from June 30) Berkshire's top holdings of disclosed publicly traded stocks in the U.S. and Japan, by market value, based on the latest closing prices. The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker. Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.) Also, Buffett's annual letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading. 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If you've accumulated any significant amount of credit card points, you should probably spend them now — but not because of the potential for a 10% interest rate cap, says Nick Ewen, senior editorial director at The Points Guy. "This is not a reason in and of itself to spend your points," Ewen says. "Even before this was announced, you should be spending your points." Credit card points — rewards earned from card spend that can be redeemed for benefits like travel, cash back or merchandise — are funded mainly by fees paid by merchants on each transaction, along with interest and sometimes fees paid by cardholders, Ewen says. To offset that lost income, reward programs may lower the amount of points you can earn from spending on the card, increase redemption costs or offer fewer perks, Ewen says. However, putting a timeline on when points could start to lose their value if an interest rate cap is implemented is a "fool's errand," because of all the uncertainty around Trump's proposal, he says. There are two main reasons you should be consistently spending your points, Ewen says: Hotel, airline and credit card reward programs can change their redemption policies at will, and they don't necessarily need to give you advance notice of any upcoming changes, Ewen says. "You don't know what the future is going to hold," Ewen says. Changes rarely increase the value you can redeem for your points, Ewen says. Additionally, unlike money you put in a high-yield savings or investment account, your points don't earn interest. This means their real value erodes over time as prices rise — $100 worth of points with an airline will still be worth $100 next year, even if flight prices increase, Ewen says. The number of points you should keep on hand will vary by person, and it largely depends on how many opportunities you have to redeem them, Ewen says. It can be useful to have some points saved for emergency situations like last-minute flights, he adds. For those going on multiple domestic and international trips in a year, it may make sense to hold onto more points. Those who travel less frequently should start thinking about spending their points once they hit the mid to upper five-figure range, he says. Keep in mind that points can often be redeemed months ahead of time, and if price drops happen, especially with flights, you may be able to rebook and receive the difference back in points, though you should check with your provider first, Ewen says. If you have points that can cover a flight right now, go ahead and spend your points on it, he says: "That is going to be your best option." CNBC Select is editorially independent and may earn a commission from affiliate partners on links.

An explosion that hit a building ‍in the southern Iranian port city of ‍Bandar Abbas on Saturday was ‍caused by a gas leak, according to a preliminary assessment, the local head of the fire department said. Earlier, Iranian state media reported that at least one person had been killed and 14 injured in the blast, which comes amid heightened tensions between ‌Tehran ‌and Washington over Iran's crackdown earlier this month on nationwide protests ​and over the country's nuclear programme. "This (gas leak and accumulation) is the preliminary assessment. My colleagues will give more details in the next few hours," Mohammad Amin Liaqat, the fire department chief, said in a video published by Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency. A video published on social media showed ⁠people standing among debris and wrecked cars in front of a damaged building following the explosion. Reuters was able to verify the location by analysing buildings, trees, and road layout, which matched satellite and file imagery. Separately, four people were killed after another gas explosion in the city of Ahvaz near the Iraqi border, according to state-run Tehran Times. Before the reports of the two blasts on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused U.S., Israeli and European leaders of exploiting Iran's economic problems, inciting unrest and providing people with the means to "tear the nation apart". The semi-official Tasnim news agency said social media reports alleging that a Revolutionary Guard navy commander had been targeted in the Bandar Abbas explosion were "completely false". Two Israeli officials told Reuters that Israel was not involved in Saturday's ‍blasts. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 22 that an "armada" was heading toward Iran. Multiple sources said on Friday that Trump was weighing ⁠options against Iran that include targeted strikes on security forces. Bandar Abbas, home to Iran's most important container port, lies on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway between Iran and Oman which ‍handles about a fifth of the world's seaborne oil. The port suffered a major explosion last April that killed dozens and injured over 1,000 people. An investigative committee at the time blamed the blast on shortcomings in adherence to principles of civil defence and security. Iran has been rocked by nationwide protests that erupted in December over economic hardship and have posed one of the toughest challenges to the country's clerical rulers. U.S.-based rights group HRANA has ⁠said at least 6,500 people were killed in the ‌protests, including hundreds of security personnel. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

As both consumers and regulators push back against ultra-processed foods, the companies that make them have been splitting up or divesting iconic brands. Kraft Heinz is preparing to break up later this year, undoing much of the merger forged more than a decade ago by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and private equity firm 3G Capital. And Keurig Dr Pepper is planning a similar split after it finishes its acquisition of JDE Peet's. In 2024, nearly half of mergers and acquisitions activity in the consumer products industry came from divestitures, according to consulting firm Bain. Over the next three years, 42% of M&A executives in the consumer products industry are preparing an asset for sale, a Bain survey found. Industrial companies like GE and Honeywell have pursued their own breakups in recent years. It's happening too in legacy media; Comcast spun off many of its cable assets into CNBC owner Versant, while Warner Bros. Discovery is planning to spin off its cable networks later this year as Netflix acquires its streaming and studios division. "In many of the spaces that we're seeing this type of activity, there are many very fierce competitive pressures that are making it harder to operate," said Emilie Feldman, a professor at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. The squeeze on packaged food and beverage companies comes from lower demand, which has led to shrinking volume for many of their products. To turn around their businesses and win back investors, they are counting on dumping underperforming brands. February will bring both quarterly earnings reports and presentations at the annual CAGNY Conference, offering investors more opportunities to hear about food executives' plans for their portfolios. Companies to watch include Kraft Heinz, which could share more details on its upcoming split, and Nestle, which is considering selling off multiple brands in its portfolio. However, price hikes and "shrinkflation" as life eased back to normal largely erased that shift in behavior. More recently, regulators, emboldened by the "Make America Healthy Again" agenda espoused by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have put both more pressure and a bigger spotlight on processed foods. And the rise of GLP-1 drugs to combat diabetes and obesity have meant some of food companies' key consumers have lost their appetite for the sweet and salty snacks that they used to eat. As a percentage of overall spending, the consumer packaged goods industry has held onto its market share. On average, about 35% of large consumer products companies' portfolios are in categories with more than 7% growth, Horsley said. For comparison, over half of private-label brands are in high-growth categories, like yogurt and functional beverages, and for insurgent brands, it's even higher. For Big Food, the result has been slowing — or even declining — sales, followed by stock declines. In some cases, activist investors push for companies to focus more on their core offerings and to offload so-called distractions. "You're seeing a lot of pressure from a valuation standpoint, especially for these publicly traded companies," said Raj Konanahalli, partner and managing director of AlixPartners. "One way to reset expectations is to really kind of focus more on the core offerings and dispose or divest the slower, capital-intensive or non-core businesses." While getting bigger helped food companies develop scale, enter new markets and grow their sales, it also made their businesses much more complex, according to Konanahalli. To be sure, some of these divestitures and breakups follow deals that seem to have been ill-advised from the start. Look no further than the merger of Keurig Green Mountain and Dr Pepper Snapple Group in 2018, to form Keurig Dr Pepper. "At the time, it was seen as both odd and a very left field deal with the questionable logic of combining coffee and [carbonated soft drinks]." (When the merger was announced in 2018, Lieberman said on a conference call with executives from both companies that she was still "scratching my head" about the logic of the deal for both players). Shares of Keurig Dr Pepper have risen 37% since the merger. Like many industries, the packaged food industry has gone through cycles of expansion and contraction, according to Feldman. For example, Kraft spun off a snacking business that includes Oreos into Mondelez in 2012, just three years before it merged with Heinz. However, in recent years, expanding through acquisitions has required more sophisticated thinking and execution. "If you go back to those glory years of pre-2015, the rules of the game in consumer products felt fairly simple, at least if you're a global company," Bain's Horsley said. Around 2015, upstarts like Chobani or BodyArmor began stealing market share from legacy brands. As a result, food giants needed to become more thoughtful about what they were acquiring and how they were managing their portfolios, according to Horsley. Then came write-downs of many of its iconic brands, like Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Maxwell House and Velveeta, in addition to a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission related to its accounting policies and internal controls. The company's leadership was too focused on slashing costs and not enough on investing back into its brands, particularly at a time when consumer tastes were changing. Since Kraft Heinz began trading as one company, shares have tumbled 73%. But not everyone is sold that getting rid of underperforming brands will benefit shareholders. One breakup that Modi agrees with is that of Kellogg, which split into the snacks-focused Kellanova and cereal-centric WK Kellogg in 2023. Kellogg's high-growth snack business was much more viable as an acquisition target without the sluggish cereal division attached. Plus, the two strategic buyers are both privately held companies that don't have to worry about sharing quarterly earnings with the public. Some investors are hoping for the same outcome with Kraft Heinz. "The view that many have had is the best way to create value is split the companies and hope that you can create a Kellanova 2.0 where both entities get acquired at some point down the line, and that's where value creation happens," said Peter Galbo, analyst at Bank of America Securities. Kraft Heinz hired Steve Cahillane, the former CEO of Kellogg and then Kellanova, as its chief executive. But acquiring either company resulting from the Kraft Heinz split would be a pretty big acquisition, making it less likely that either is snapped up, according to Galbo. On Tuesday, General Mills announced that it is selling its Muir Glen brand of organic tomatoes to focus on its core brands. And last week, Bloomberg reported that Nestle is preparing the sale of its water unit; the Swiss giant is also reportedly considering offloading upscale coffee brand Blue Bottle and its underperforming vitamin brands. Bigger deals are harder to come by because of the current regulatory environment, Konanahalli said. Buyers might not be strategic players, but instead private equity firms with plenty of cash on hand. Sometimes, good old-fashioned elbow grease can work even better. "Just because it seems like the wind is blowing your way, it doesn't mean that you can't put in some hard work and turn things around," AlixPartners' Konanahalli said. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

The Justice Department on Friday released many more records from its investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein, resuming disclosures under a law intended to reveal what the government knew about the millionaire financier's sexual abuse of young girls and his interactions with the rich and powerful. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department was releasing more than 3 million pages of documents in the latest Epstein disclosure, as well as more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The files, posted to the department's website, include some of the several million pages of records that officials said were withheld from an initial release of documents in December. Congressional Democrats, who have been key to pushing for the release of case files on Epstein, are arguing that Friday's release is only about half of the files that have been collected. The Epstein Files Transparency Act, a law enacted after months of public and political pressure, requires the government to open its files on the convicted sex offender as well as his confidant and onetime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after he was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. In one exchange, Tisch wrote to Epstein that he had lunch with one of Epstein's assistant's friends — "very sweet girl" — and asked if the financier knew anything about her. "no, but i will ask," said Epstein, before inquiring if Tisch had contacted another woman, crudely describing her physical features. Epstein's reply was redacted, but in a later email he said "tahitian speaks mostly french, exotic." "I am happy to have you as a new but obviosly shared interest friend," wrote Epstein. In an emailed statement, Tisch said that he had a "brief association" where they emailed about "adult women" and other topics, saying that he never took Epstein up on invitations or visited his island. "As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with," said Tisch. That was after multiple underage girls came forward and told police and FBI agents that they had been paid to give him sexualized massages. Ultimately, the U.S. attorney in Miami at the time, Alexander Acosta, signed off on a deal that let Epstein avoid federal prosecution. He pleaded guilty instead to a state charge of soliciting prostitution from someone under age 18 and got an 18-month jail sentence. One of the documents released Friday, though, was a draft indictment from that period that would have brought federal charges against not just Epstein but three other people who worked for him as personal assistants. They included emails in which Epstein and others shared news articles about President Donald Trump, commented on his policies or his politics, or gossiped about him and his family. Among the records was a spreadsheet, created just last August, summarizing calls that had been made to the FBI's National Threat Operation Center or to a hotline set by prosecutors from people claiming to have some knowledge of wrongdoing by Trump. That document included a range of uncorroborated stories involving many different celebrities, and somewhat fantastical scenarios, occasionally with notations indicating what follow-up, if any, was done by agents. Among the documents released Friday was a 58-page manual that dictated staff etiquette and duties in his Florida mansion, ranging from how to interact with Epstein and Maxwell to what to stock in their bathrooms. Staff were banned from addressing Epstein, Maxwell and their guests with their hands in their pockets, and from saying "yeah," "sure," "no problem," "you bet," "gotcha," "right" and "I dunno." They also could not talk about the weather or any other subject unless asked. As part of the "pre-arrival preparations" for the primary bedroom, the air conditioning had to be set at 60 F (15.5 C), a gun was to be placed in a bedside table draw and tissue boxes could not be less than one-third full. Toothpaste containers in the bathrooms could not be less than one-half full. Every car had to have two bottles of water and $100 in the glove compartment, and the gas tanks had to be at least three-quarters full. Excerpts of the manual were introduced during Maxwell's trial in 2021 as a former employee of Epstein's Florida mansion testified. The employee at Epstein's Florida estate, whose name was redacted, told the FBI his duties included fanning $100 bills on a table near Epstein's bed, placing a gun between the mattresses in his bedroom and cleaning up after Epstein's frequent massages, which often involved rubdowns from young women or girls. The employee recalled wiping down vibrators used during massages, throwing out tissues, laundering towels and seeing used condoms on more than one occasion. FBI agents wrote that the employee told them Epstein also "enjoyed getting ice cream from a local ice cream parlor with the girls," allowed "some of the girls to drive one of his vehicles," and sometimes directed the employee to take them shopping at a local mall. An employee at Epstein's Florida estate told the FBI in 2007 that he believed he saw underage girls in the financier's company and that Epstein once had him purchase flowers and deliver them to a student at Royal Palm Beach High School to commemorate her performance in the school play. He said Epstein also directed him to rent a car for the girl, described by FBI agents as a "UF," or "Unidentified Female." The employee recalled another female person whom he said "looked very young." The FBI had started investigating Epstein in July 2006 and FBI agents expected Epstein to be indicted in May 2007, according to records released Friday. But the probe was ultimately abandoned in a deal that allowed him to plea guilty to state charges and avoid significant punishment. In a letter to Congress, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche noted that tens of thousands of files had been redacted or withheld due to legal privileges such as protecting attorney-client work communications. The letter obtained by The Associated Press said that the Justice Department within 15 days of Friday's release will submit to Congress a "formal report with a summary of redactions made and a list of all government officials and politically exposed persons named or referenced in the released materials." Blanche said the department "remains committed to protecting the privacy of victims and welcome continued engagement from victims and their counsel." He said officials have created an email inbox for victims to contact authorities if they need to raise concerns about redactions. "As survivors, we should never be the ones named, scrutinized, and retraumatized while Epstein's enablers continue to benefit from secrecy." We will not stop until the truth is fully revealed and every perpetrator is finally held accountable," the statement reads. On one occasion in December 2012, Epstein invited Lutnick to his private island in the Caribbean for lunch, according to documents released on Friday show. Lutnick's wife, Allison Lutnick, enthusiastically accepted the invitation and said they would arrive on a yacht with their children. On another occasion in 2011, the two men had drinks, according to a schedule shared with Epstein. Lutnick has tried to distance himself from associations with Epstein, saying in a 2025 interview that he cut ties with the sex offender decades ago, calling him "gross." Lutnick didn't respond to an emailed request for comment on Friday afternoon. 'The documents contain hundreds of friendly text messages between Epstein and Steve Bannon in the months leading up to Epstein's suicide in August 2019. Bannon, a conservative activist who had served as Trump's White House strategist earlier in the president's first term, bantered over politics with the financier, discussed get-togethers with him over breakfast, lunch or dinner and, on March 29, 2019, asked Epstein if he could supply his plane to pick him up in Rome: "Is it possible to get your plane here to collect me?" Epstein told him his pilot and crew "are doing their best" to arrange that flight but if Bannon could find a charter flight instead, "I'm happy to pay." Apparently in France at the time, Epstein followed up with a text saying: "My guys can pick you up. The exchange did not show how that played out. In their communications over months, the two at times touched on a documentary that Bannon was said to be planning to polish Epstein's sullied reputation. On June 28, 2019, Epstein messaged Bannon: "Now you can understand why trump wakes up in the middle of the night sweating when he hears you and I are friends." The context is not discernible from that exchange. He was found dead in his cell just over a month later. In a late November 2012 exchange, Epstein inquired how many people Musk would like flown by helicopter to the island he owned — Little Saint James in the U.S. Virgin Islands. "What day/night will be the wildest party on =our island?" Musk messaged Epstein again ahead of a planned trip to the Caribbean in late December 2013. Epstein responded by extending an invite for sometime after the New Year holiday. "play it by ear if you want," he wrote. "I will come and get you," Epstein wrote in a follow up email. It's not immediately clear if the island visits took place. Spokespersons for Musk's companies, Tesla and X, didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment Friday. Musk has maintained that he repeatedly turned down the disgraced financier's overtures. Epstein gave millions of dollars to research projects associated with Martin Nowak, a Harvard University math professor. In 2021, Harvard barred Nowak from starting new research or advising students for at least two years because of his ties to Epstein after the financier's 2008 sex crimes conviction. An investigation determined that Nowak gave Epstein an office in his campus research center, along with a building key card. Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019, and found dead in his cell just over a month later. The latest batch of documents includes emails between investigators about Epstein's death, including an investigator's observation that his final communication doesn't look like a suicide note. Multiple investigations have determined that Epstein's death was a suicide. To draw attention away from the "large news media presence" outside the jail after Epstein's death became known, officials concocted a plan. But Epstein's actual body, according to the interview notes, was loaded into a black vehicle, which departed "unnoticed." The attache, whose name was redacted, wrote: "The Ambassador is concerned about the attached story, and I wanted to see if you have any sense of where this is coming from. Anyone in your shop decided to push this?" Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Britain's Prince Andrew, was friends with Epstein for years and settled a sexual misconduct lawsuit filed by one of Epstein's alleged victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Giuffre claimed that she'd been directed by Epstein to have three different sexual encounters with Mountbatten-Windsor, starting when she was 17. At least one of the files appears to show personal information that was meant to be kept from the public. It's an email exchange that appears to be marked for redactions but leaves names and telephone numbers visible. The December 2019 emails captured officials discussing missing surveillance video from the New York jail where Epstein survived an apparent suicide attempt earlier that year. During Trump's first term, Epstein emailed Kathy Ruemmler, a lawyer and former Obama White House official, to warn that Democrats should stop demonizing Trump as a Mafia-type figure even as he derided the president as a "maniac." "you might want to tell your dem friends that treatin= trump like a mafia don , ignores the fact that he has great dangerous pow.r.." Epstein wrote in a typo-filled email. In a 2018 exchange, Epstein and Trump advisor Steve Bannon discussed the president's threats to oust Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, whom he had named to the post just the year prior. "should have been done months ago too old!!!!" "Can u get rid of Powell or really get rid of mnuchin," Bannon replied, referring to then-Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. Trump on Friday named Kevin Warsh to succeed Powell after spending the past year assailing him for not cutting interest rates quickly enough. The records contain emails between investigators that discuss Epstein's death, including his last note — with the email stating that it does not appear to be a suicide note. The House Oversight Committee has also issued a separate subpoena to Attorney General Pam Bondi for the files without redactions, but that has not been fulfilled. Congressional Democrats who have been key to pushing for the release of case files on Epstein are arguing that Friday's release by the Department of Justice is only about half of the files that have been collected. "The DOJ said it identified over 6 million potentially responsive pages but is releasing only about 3.5 million after review and redactions. Khanna said he was looking to see whether the files released Friday included FBI interviews with victims, a draft indictment and information prosecutors collected during a 2007 investigation into Epstein in Florida. The House Oversight Committee has also issued a separate subpoena to Attorney General Pam Bondi for the files without redactions, but that has not been fulfilled. Over the years, prosecutors received tips from people with wild stories about being sexually abused by famous figures. In some instances, FBI investigators diligently reached out to these tipsters and alleged victims and listened to their implausible sounding stories — some involving the occult and human sacrifice — then wrote dry reports summarizing what the people had to say and sent them to their superiors. Attorney Jay Clayton told New York federal court judges overseeing records in the sex trafficking cases against Epstein and Maxwell that some documents are being withheld temporarily while the government awaits further guidance from civil and criminal courts. In a letter to the judges, Clayton says his office continues to engage with victims and their lawyers, including during a call Thursday. He said the Justice Department has invited victims to reach out if they believe anything has been published that should be redacted. The huge cache of documents included email correspondence between prosecutors, printouts of thousands of emails that Epstein either sent or received, news clippings, and reports written by FBI agents summarizing their interviews with witnesses and alleged victims in the investigation. He said federal attorneys had to review all 6 million pages to ensure no victim information is released, and couldn't do so within the 30-day timeline set by the law. He noted various exemptions under the law, but said no material was being withheld under a national security or foreign policy exemption. "There's not some tranche of super-secret documents about Jeffrey Epstein that we're withholding," he said about redactions in the files. Lawyers also withheld child sex abuse materials or anything depicting images of death, physical abuse or injury, as well as anything that would hurt an ongoing federal investigation, Blanche said. A team of AP reporters is working to confirm information released by the Justice Department regarding Jeffrey Epstein. We generally do not identify those who say they have been sexually assaulted or subjected to extreme abuse We must make significant efforts to reach anyone who may be portrayed in a negative way in our content We will not knowingly introduce rumor or false information into material We always strive to identify all the sources of our information "There's a hunger, or a thirst, for information that I don't think will be satisfied by review of these documents," he said. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

Every time Jennifer publishes a story, you'll get an alert straight to your inbox! By clicking “Sign up”, you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Silver took a historic plunge on Friday, but there are signs traders should look out for that could suggest the pain isn't over. That's according to Jeffrey Christian, a longtime commodities analyst and managing director at CPM Group. The devil's metal — which has vaulted higher over the past year on a mix of economic factors and investor FOMO — just saw a brutal correction. After rallying more than 200%, silver plunged more than 30% on Friday as the US dollar strengthened and investors reacted to Trump's pick to lead the Federal Reserve. But the decline could keep going, Christian said, adding that he's on the lookout for a handful of signs to gauge whether silver was in for more pain. Christian, for what it's worth, believes silver could remain elevated or rise through 2026, even after the big sell-off on Friday. But, should silver's price retreat more, he believes traders could exit the market en masse. "This is the way markets behave, and no one should be surprised that speculators have poured into a market that's moving parabolic, and no one should be surprised when they leave. Christian said he'd be looking for further signs that investors are losing interest in silver, which could slow down its momentum enough to cause more speculative traders to flee. The silver investing frenzy — which Christian suspects began in September, after the Fed signaled it would cut interest rates more aggressively than markets expected — didn't show many signs of letting up before Friday. On Monday, retail traders snapped up a record net $171 million shares in the iShares Silver Trust ETF, according to data from VandaTrack Research. That outpaced flows in 2021, when retail investors orchestrated a short-squeeze of the metal, Ashwin Bhakre, the firm's head of product, wrote in a note this week. Silver's Turnover Momentum — Vanda's gauge for how quickly investors are trading an investment — also spiked to 11.55 times its normal level at the start of the week, compared to Nvidia's Turnover Momentum of 7.54, Bhakre added. Another thing that could further slow down silver's momentum is if inventories rise, Christian said. "You're already seeing refineries backed up with silver that investors have been selling," he told Business Insider. Christian pointed in particular to active March 2026 silver contracts on the COMEX exchange. As those contracts approach delivery, some investors are expected to roll their contracts forward to a future month, keeping upward pressure on silver prices, Christian said. If open interest were to fall, that could remove a significant source of upward pressure on the price, he said. Observers have been growing wary of silver amid its meme-like rally in recent months. Marko Kolanovic, the former quant chief at JPMorgan, said he believed a 50% drop in silver prices was "almost guaranteed," citing past episodes of commodity speculation.

At an Amazon Fresh store in New York, some customers would walk in and ask employees: Do you have products from Amazon's other grocery store here? "I would run into people looking for a specific product from Whole Foods," one employee at the store told Business Insider. Some assumed that Amazon Fresh would offer their favorite organic yogurt or premium meat because of the shared ownership. While Fresh stores did stock some Whole Foods 365 products, store employees said, Amazon sought to offer more affordable groceries and showcase its technology, such as Just Walk Out and smart shopping carts, at Amazon Fresh. Meanwhile, Amazon plans to expand Whole Foods and its grocery delivery services as it tries to compete with grocery stores like Walmart and its Supercenters. An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider on Friday that Numerator's figures "underrepresent" the company's grocery share. Since opening its first brick-and-mortar bookstore in 2015, the company has tested a range of formats, including cashierless Amazon Go stores and 4-Star shops featuring curated merchandise. Once Amazon Fresh closes, Whole Foods will be the company's sole remaining physical retail brand. While Amazon acquired Whole Foods' reputation for quality standards and affluent, liberal-leaning shoppers when it bought the brand, it had to establish Amazon Fresh from scratch. It offered more affordable groceries and items that Whole Foods doesn't sell, such as sugary sodas. Amazon also touted Fresh stores for their tech, such as the Just Walk Out checkout system and smart shopping carts. Amazon said in Tuesday's statement that it never quite found "a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion" in the grocery industry. Amazon Fresh tried a variety of promotions to draw customers into its stores. Store employees who spoke to Business Insider said some were more successful than others. One store in Southern California set up free massage chairs for customers next to the produce section and had carnival-style games for kids as part of a daylong event a few months after opening, an employee said, adding that the attractions helped boost foot traffic. "You wouldn't even have to return anything," the employee said. Amazon does not separately disclose sales for Whole Foods or Fresh. Instead, it reports revenue for its "physical stores" segment, which is largely made up of Whole Foods and has grown roughly 5% to 8% in recent quarters. A more structural problem may have been what Amazon decided to carry in its stores. At the New York store, employees often had to throw away ready-to-eat foods from a hot bar, such as mac and cheese, after they sat largely untouched, an employee who worked there said. The store also tended to be overstocked on health and beauty products, such as hair dye, this employee said. "Just For Men is not really a hot seller at an Amazon food store," she said. "But we still have two cases of it in the back." The eclectic offerings at Fresh stores left many customers without a clear reason to return, said Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst and editor of the website SupermarketGuru. That strategy differed from grocery chains like Wegman's, Publix, or Whole Foods, which have established themselves for specific offerings, such as organic food or pub subs. The Fresh stores lacked a clear draw for shoppers, the person said, while chains such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Costco offer distinct reason for customers to visit. Amazon is also seeking to appeal to more mainstream grocery shoppers by expanding pickup options for everyday staples, such as Coca-Cola and Doritos, at select Whole Foods locations, according to another employee, who had direct knowledge of the strategy. One upgraded Whole Foods store in suburban Philadelphia, announced last year, now fulfills Amazon orders from a dedicated area in the back of the store. Amazon's in-store technology, which the company promoted as one of Fresh's major advantages over rivals, got a lukewarm reception from many patrons, several store employees said. One who worked at another Southern California store said in-person customers tended to bypass Amazon's Just Walk Out technology in favor of traditional or self-service checkout, he said. An employee at a store in New Jersey said store managers never showed him or his colleagues how to use the Dash Carts — a problem when customers asked how they worked. Amazon told Business Insider that it trained some employees specifically for assisting customers, including instruction on using the Dash Carts. Amazon's $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods was intended to accelerate a push into physical retail. Integrating the grocer into Amazon's broader ecosystem has proved challenging, however, according to current and former employees at both companies. An update to the Whole Foods app that surfaced Prime discounts confused some customers, workers said. That friction contributed to delays in rolling out Amazon's cashierless technology at Whole Foods locations, Business Insider previously reported. Last year, Amazon put Whole Foods Chief Executive Jason Buechel in charge of the entire Fresh grocery operation. Over the past year, he has worked to bring the businesses together under a "One Grocery" initiative, and Amazon began migrating Whole Foods employees onto Amazon's internal systems last year, Business Insider previously reported. Last fall, he said, a manager informed him that his role picking items from store shelves for online orders was being eliminated. The store, he said, was rarely busy, including at peak shopping times, such as after work or on weekends. He got a job doing the same kind of work at one of Amazon's nearby grocery fulfillment warehouses, an area the company is doubling down on.

China is the other real global hotspot for automated driving, with some of its biggest companies eager to expand around the world. Together, we have more than three decades of experience working on automated driving in industry and academia. We wrote this piece to share our experiences in China and to help you plan — or even daydream — your own. Perhaps you'll marvel as your robotaxi skillfully navigates streets filled not just with cars but with bikes going every which way. Or you might sit sheepishly as it tries to turn itself around in a crowded intersection. In other words, you'll encounter everyday people as they — and you — try to make sense of the robotaxis coming our way fast. Here's what we've learned about robotaxis in China on our (driverless) adventures, and here's how you can ride too. China's three largest robotaxi developers are Baidu Apollo, Pony.ai, and WeRide. Each operates in China and is also pursuing services in other parts of the world, including Europe and the Middle East. Baidu Apollo is the automated driving unit of Baidu (BIDU on Nasdaq), often compared to Alphabet, which owns both Waymo and Google. The first part of this name intentionally sounds like "robot," but it actually means "radish." Pony.AI (PONY on Nasdaq) is a startup based in both China and the United States. Perhaps as a result, Baidu already sends its robotaxis on some freeways without safety drivers inside. (Waymo only recently expanded its service to a few US freeways.) Other companies are also developing automated vehicles in China — but, at least in our experience, they tend to be active in very limited areas or still rely heavily on safety drivers. Many Chinese cities — including some megacities you may have never heard of — have at least some automated driving activity. If you're coming in search of robotaxis, you can't go wrong with five of the more famous: Beijing (the capital), Shanghai (the financial hub), Wuhan (China's "Chicago"), and Guangzhou and Shenzhen (neighbors in the tech-heavy province of Guangdong near Hong Kong). Whereas Waymo's robotaxis can pick you up almost anywhere in San Francisco or Phoenix, you'll need to go find the robotaxis in Chinese cities. Services are generally confined to pilot zones covering only portions of each city, and an individual robotaxi company might provide truly driverless service in only part of a given pilot zone. That said, comparisons are difficult: While Beijing's primary pilot zone may appear small, it is roughly similar in geographic size and population to all of San Francisco. Because Baidu, Pony, and WeRide are all active here, Beijing provides a good introduction to Chinese robotaxis. Visit Yizhuang during the day — not during rush hours when services may pause or fill up, and not at night when they generally stop. Remember that Shanghai is enormous; as in Beijing, you may need to travel by subway or taxi for an hour just to reach a robotaxi. Pony serves a relatively small area east of Shanghai's famous central business district. If you're near Hongqiao Airport (or its intercity rail station) on Shanghai's far west side, explore the various services in Jiading. Didi Rider (滴滴出行) and SAIC (上汽集团) also have limited operations nearby. Locals like to say that Baidu chose Wuhan because the city's human drivers are notoriously bad. At this point, the city's ubiquitous Apollo robotaxis probably offer China's best example of an automated vehicle service that ordinary commuters rely on. As with all the companies, there are caveats: You might be within Apollo's service area but not near one of its designated pick-up points, and some major destinations are still just out of reach. If you're already in the center, start at Hongtu Avenue station near Jinyingtan Hospital. Some of our more exciting robotaxi experiences (other than on Wuhan's freeways) were in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Many "robotaxis" in these two cities actually had human safety drivers. And some of the vehicles that were driverless perhaps should not have been. Shenzhen has officially opened the entire metropolis to robotaxis, but in practice, companies still serve only limited areas. Guangzhou has integrated automated shuttles into parts of its public transport network, which shows how automated mobility is more than just robotaxis. The apps you'll use to book your robotaxi trips are both fun and frustrating. Some require you to manually set (and, crucially, to update) your desired service area in the settings; otherwise, they may incorrectly show no availability. Alternatively, the mapping apps Baidu Maps and Amaps each show their preferred robotaxi company if you're in a service area and you've toggled the robotaxi option. Once you request a ride, some apps indicate your queue position. But if robotaxi service has been suspended due to weather or other reasons, a perpetual queue might be your only clue that your ride isn't coming. China has recently loosened some of its travel restrictions. This means citizens of many European countries do not need travel visas for short visits. Check with your regional Chinese consulate, or turn to a commercial visa service. You'll need a mainland Chinese phone number to register for most robotaxi services — as well as to use many other Chinese apps that are linked to physical things in the real world. Fortunately, once you arrive in China (and sometimes even in the airport), you can buy or rent a prepaid Chinese phone. Remember to bring your passport — and make sure you get an actual mainland number (+86 followed by 11 digits). For example, even with a VPN, you might not be able to use any Google services. Beyond these basic functions, however, many of these apps (or the miniapps within them) may still require a Chinese phone number. Once your robotaxi trip is underway, you can change your destination — though the number of times varies by provider. As long as the app or in-vehicle screen lets you, this is a great way to spend more time in robotaxis rather than waiting for them. This also shows how a company handles route changes. For example, Pony will quickly undertake U-turns (or even three-point turns), which can make for interesting maneuvers on already chaotic streets. China is becoming more accessible to foreigners, and some of the hurdles we've described may have even fallen by the time you visit. Regardless, the people you'll meet are almost always willing to help. As with any trip, carefully consult travel guidance from your government. Bryant Walker Smith, a professor at the University of South Carolina and a visiting professor at Renmin University of China, studies the law and policy of AI generally and automated driving specifically. Sven Beiker, the managing director of Silicon Valley Mobility, teaches strategies for the automotive industry at Stanford University and AI in corporate operations at the University of Borås in Sweden. Yandeng Long and Xiang Li, law students at Renmin University of China, contributed their insights, enthusiasm, and language skills to this story.

The U.S. is looking increasingly isolated when it comes to its global geopolitical and trade relationships as allies reassess their ties to the world's largest economy and consider going it alone. But that strategy could be backfiring, particularly as the U.S.' friends and partners look to diversify their trade policies, in no small part to protect themselves from Trump's unpredictability. "Given what's happening with the U.S. and its foreign policy, which was articulated in the recently released National Security Strategy ... the 'middle powers' need to find their own agency and figure out different approaches," Damian Ma, director of Carnegie China, an East Asia-based research center, told CNBC on Thursday. "Countries are going to align based on particular, specific à la carte interests, rather than a comprehensive values-based alignment," he said, noting that while this was not a return to a divided Cold War mentality of opposing power blocs, it was more a "recalibration" of national interests. "Where that recalibration and that new equilibrium ends is anyone's guess, but you're seeing countries starting to make moves finally. That recalibration has certainly gathered pace of late with a flurry of diplomacy and trade deals being pursued since the new year, none of which have involved the U.S. or President Trump. China and Canada agreed to reduce trade barriers in early January, prompting a furious response from Trump, while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was in Beijing to reset ties with President Xi Jinping, with both sides agreeing to lower barriers to trade and travel. The EU has also been busy, making progress in its trade deal with Mercosur, as well as signing a long-awaited free trade agreement with India last week. Those meetings have taken place after Trump's tirade against allies during his speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in which he insulted and criticized various leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Carney. Jimena Blanco, chief analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, told CNBC that there had been a measurable deterioration in how the U.S. communicated with its allies. "Our data measuring verbal tensions between countries shows worsening U.S. relations with some key allies over the last year," she told CNBC on Thursday. "The sharpest spikes were recorded with Canada, Denmark, Belgium, Japan, Ireland, New Zealand and France, reflecting the impact of public, tense exchanges between U.S. officials and their counterparts in allied nations." But Blanco noted that U.S. allies have tended to respond to Washington's policy shifts by diversifying their economic exposure, rather than reversing their integration in the global trade system. "The EU, Canada, Japan, Australia and the U.K. can't afford to disengage with the U.S. but are instead widening trade with large emerging markets as well as with each other," Blanco added, with emerging markets the "major winners" of this diversification. Likening this period of difficult relations with the U.S. as a rocky patch rather than grounds for divorce, analysts say the U.S.' allies have little choice but to try to keep the U.S. on side, while exploring other avenues of trade and cooperation. "Europe is too dependent on the U.S. not only for its security, but also technologically and economically, to prefer the divorced life today," Ivan Krastev, chair of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, Bulgaria, said in a Goldman Sachs report earlier this week. "For Europe, while there is much talk about finding new allies, aligning with others won't be a quick or easy process," he noted, adding: "Instead, Europe will be focused on showing the U.S. that Europe matters." Joseph Parkes, senior analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, agreed that the U.S. was too big to be isolated, ultimately: "It is simply too important from a tech, trade, currency and security perspective," he told CNBC on Thursday. Trade fragmentation will create new and different groupings of countries seeking to increase economic resilience," he told CNBC on Thursday, with "geopolitical agility" increasingly important for businesses to navigate a more uncertain landscape. "The recent volatility has accelerated a shift away from 'just-in-time' towards 'just-in-case' to strengthen supply chains," he noted, with companies turning to 'nearshoring' and 'friendshoring' in order to source materials from trusted allies. In the meantime, Parkes said, governments would look to "expand trade agreements to build strategic flexibility and reduce market and supply-chain dependence on any given country." Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

A cache of newly released documents from the Epstein files on Friday showed Elon Musk apparently corresponded with the convicted sex offender in 2012 and 2013, as they discussed meeting at Jeffrey Epstein's private island and at Musk's SpaceX facility in Southern California. The emails indicate Musk asked about attending the "wildest party," hosted by Epstein at his island. Musk, who serves as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has for years downplayed his connection to Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while in federal custody. "Epstein tried to get me to go to his island and I REFUSED," Musk said in a post on his social network X in September. He also complained that Sky News had mentioned him in conjunction with Epstein before naming Britain's Prince Andrew, who had visited the island. The U.S. Virgin Islands issued a subpoena to Musk in 2023 because of suspicion that Epstein "may have referred or attempted to refer" Musk as a client to JPMorgan Chase. The Department of Justice on Friday released millions of additional pages of documents related to Epstein, along with more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said. The release comes after weeks of criticism that the DOJ wasn't complying with the requirement under federal law passed in November that all files related to Epstein be publicly released by Dec. 19. Among the documents released Friday were emails dated from 2012 to 2013, showing Musk's name but with his email address redacted. He told Epstein that he would be traveling with his partner at the time, English actress Talulah Riley, to St. Barts, and was looking to potentially connect at Epstein's Island. Musk responded that it would be just him and Riley and asked, "What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?" In a December 2013 email, Musk again wrote to Epstein saying, "Christmas and New Year's, will be in the BVI /St Bart's area over the holidays. Is there a good time to visit?" "I will send heli for you," Epstein responded, with Musk writing back, "Thanks." CNBC hasn't confirmed whether Musk ever visited the Island, though Musk has denied ever traveling there. Musk didn't respond to a request for comment. The emails released on Friday also show that in October 2012, Musk forwarded questions from Epstein to his cousin, Peter Rive, a SolarCity founder. Musk had invested personally in SolarCity and sat on the company's board. In the emails, Epstein asked if the solar installer could electrify his New Mexico ranch, or his private Island. Tesla acquired SolarCity in 2016 in a controversial deal, folding it into what would become the company's energy division. In June of last year, Musk wrote in a post on X, that he thought President Donald Trump and his administration were withholding Epstein-related files from the public view in order to protect the president's reputation. "That is the real reason they have not been made public. WATCH: House votes to release more Epstein investigation files Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox