Trump Officials Under Fire for Using Signal to Discuss Military Strikes

Senior officials in Donald Trump’s second administration are facing scrutiny for using the encrypted messaging app Signal to discuss sensitive military operations. The Atlantic reported that a Signal group chat involving top Trump officials—allegedly including Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and others—shared details about planned strikes on Yemeni Houthi targets. Some messages included precise targeting and timing information and were set to disappear automatically.

Sources: NBC News, X

U.S. and Russia to Make Joint Statement Today

The United States and Russia are expected to issue a joint statement this morning following negotiations in Saudi Arabia aimed at establishing a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, according to sources speaking to CBS News. While specific terms of the anticipated deal have not yet been released, early reports sent to the Trump administration from U.S. technical experts in Riyadh are reportedly optimistic. The proposed ceasefire would facilitate the movement of grain, fuel, and other goods, potentially reinstating shipping freedoms lost after Russia withdrew from the previous U.N.- and Turkey-brokered grain deal in 2023. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz noted that an aerial ceasefire has already begun following a recent phone call between Presidents Trump and Putin. Ukrainian officials have been briefed on the talks, though fighting between Ukraine and Russia continues on the ground.

Sources: CBS News

Intel’s New CEO Eyes Foundry Revamp and Big-Name Clients in Near-Term Strategy

Under new CEO Lip-Bu Tan, Intel appears poised to refocus its strategy around chip design and revitalizing its foundry business, according to a UBS client note by analyst Timothy Arcuri. The company is reportedly working to attract major customers like Nvidia and Broadcom to its foundry services, with Nvidia showing more promise, particularly for gaming chips. However, Intel must overcome hurdles with power efficiency in its advanced 18A node. The chipmaker is also accelerating development of a lower-power variant, 18AP, to appeal to more clients. Intel’s packaging capabilities via its Embedded Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB) are being positioned to compete with TSMC’s CoWoS-L technology, potentially improving its chances with Nvidia. Additionally, Intel's partnership with United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) is progressing, and production may begin as early as the second half of 2026. This alliance could position Intel-UMC as an alternative to TSMC for high-voltage FinFETs, possibly leading to future involvement in Apple products. Further updates are expected at Intel's upcoming Direct Connect event on April 29.

Sources: Seeking Alpha

Tesla Stock Soars Nearly 12% as Tariff Concerns Ease and Robotaxi Hopes Spark Optimism

Tesla (TSLA) led the "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks on Monday with a nearly 12% surge, closing at $278.39, amid investor optimism that President Trump's proposed tariffs on the auto sector may be delayed or scaled back. This pause in trade action, previously feared to impact Tesla’s bottom line, helped ease market anxiety. The stock was already rebounding from recent lows after Tesla announced plans to launch a robotaxi service in 2025. Despite the bounce, Tesla continues to face challenges, including a recent drop in sales across key markets such as the U.S., China, and Europe. Additionally, the company is navigating political backlash tied to CEO Elon Musk’s public alignment with conservatives and President Trump. Musk recently addressed concerns in an internal meeting, reaffirming his engagement with product development and company strategy. The EV maker also clarified it will launch its Full Self-Driving trial in China once it secures regulatory approval.

Sources: Yahoo Finance

DeepSeek Releases AI Model that Can Run on a Mac Studio

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has quietly released a powerful new open-source language model, DeepSeek-V3-0324, that is already drawing attention for both its capabilities and accessibility. Licensed under MIT, the model is free for commercial use and can run on high-end consumer hardware, such as Apple’s Mac Studio with the M3 Ultra chip — a notable departure from the heavy infrastructure typically required for models of this scale.

The model uses a mixture-of-experts architecture, activating only a fraction of its 685 billion parameters for each task, improving both efficiency and speed. Early testers report performance surpassing leading closed models like Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 3.5 in general tasks. Its open release reflects a broader trend among Chinese firms toward democratizing AI access, contrasting with the closed, API-based models dominant in the West.

Sources: VentureBeat