Us Government

Manjit Singh Bedi brought back to US to face $600K fraud charges: FBI chief

FBI Director Kash Patel said Bedi, arrested in India in September, is among six suspects captured since the Most Wanted Fraudsters list was launched three months ago

US govt hits BofA with $1.2 billion fine over money laundering violations

The US Treasury Department said Tuesday that it's imposing USD 1.2 billion in fines on Bank of America for allegedly violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws. The fines on America's second-biggest bank amount to the third-largest in the department's history. "When a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences extend far beyond its own walls, exposing the entire US financial system to significant illicit finance risks," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. "Today's actions send a clear message that even the biggest financial institutions are not above the law." Treasury said Bank of America also reached an USD 11.6 million settlement with the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control over "apparent violations of numerous sanctions programs, including on Iran, Russia, narcotics, and global terrorism." In a statement, Treasury said its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network assessed the USD 1.2 bill

DOJ probes whether White House TV pool coverage halt violated antitrust law

The US Department of Justice is investigating whether the decision of the White House television press pool to halt coverage of President Donald Trump last month violated antitrust law, an agency spokesperson said Saturday. Emily Covington, a spokesperson for the department, said group boycotts among business competitors might violate US law. "The Antitrust Division is simply investigating to determine whether these news organizations have violated the antitrust laws," she said. The announcement came after the television pool of five broadcasters last month ceased presidential coverage after the administration barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. Messages were sent late Saturday to the five outlets seeking comment: ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX and NBC. The White House press pool, which is a rotating cast of news outlets that covers the president, has become a proxy for the wider fight over whether the president, or anyone, can control the content of news reports - a type of

Infosys sees no material impact from US suspension of PERM applications

The US government said on Thursday it was suspending some major ‌global tech and IT firms, including Infosys, from the PERM green card program

Anthropic's Claude AI carried out unintended actions on US govt websites

Anthropic disclosed 4 types of unintended AI behaviour, including exploiting software flaws, submitting unauthorised forms and bypassing access restrictions

TCS says US PERM suspension won't affect plans, targets 15,000 new hires

The company said its US workforce strategy centres on hiring local employees, including through campus recruitment; it aims to hire 15,000 people in the US over five years

Trump says his super PAC will pay for taxpayer-funded ads glorifying him

President Donald Trump said Monday that he will stop using taxpayer funds for television advertisements glorifying himself that sparked a major backlash, and instead tap his super PAC to cover costs going forward. In a post on his social media site, Trump defended the ads, which cost at least USD 1.5 million in federal funds and have drawn intense criticism. Trump said they were "positive promotion for our Great USA." "This is a rather standard thing to do," the president wrote, while blaming intense criticism for using taxpayer funds on the ads on the "Radical Left." But the president added that he'd "decided to do the Patriotic Ads, among others, and pay for them myself, and with money I raised for MAGA, Inc." That is Trump's political war chest, which had amassed more than USD 400 million by the end of July. Trump has begun to tap it to boost Republican candidates around the country ahead of midterm elections. Trump provided no details on reimbursing taxpayers for ads that alrea

Anthropic warns govt actions could hurt revenue, customer relationships

Anthropic's IPO prospectus says government actions and attitudes towards the AI company could cause revenue losses, business disruptions and reputational harm

Looking 'very seriously' at banning US diesel exports, says Trump

Several farm-state lawmakers have urged Trump to limit US diesel exports during the peak of the fall harvest season

US seeks to expand passport records access for voter citizenship checks

The State Department proposal would expand access to passport records for state and local officials and potentially some nonprofits to verify voter eligibility

Tax fraud could cost US more than $300 billion annually, GAO finds

The Government Accountability Office estimated annual federal tax fraud losses at $116 billion-$304 billion, based on data from 2018 through 2024

OpenAI's models accessed US govt websites including US census and SEC data

The company said its models accessed publicly available data from Census and SEC websites as it investigates incidents involving AI systems bypassing security controls

Trump admin seeks to expand access to passport records for voter checks

US State Department plans to allow state and local officials, and potentially nonprofits, to access passport records to verify voters' citizenship under a proposed policy

Rupee, bonds witness sell-off as crude oil, US Treasury yields rise

The rupee settled at 95.96 per dollar, while the benchmark 10-year government bond yield rose 6 basis points to 7.11 per cent, its highest level since May 21

US proposes AI incident alert system in talks with China: Bessent

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday the US has proposed a new "notification mechanism" for artificial intelligence incidents that could affect national security, part of weekend discussions ahead of talks at the White House this week between President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping. "We want a shared vision of common goals and common threats," Bessent told reporters after talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York. "We think that just like any cross-border activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the No. 1 and the No. 2 AI powers in the world is very important." Trump has resisted calls to slow down AI development, saying that would help China catch up to US companies. Standing together in the soaring lobby of the JPMorgan Chase headquarters late Sunday, Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the groundwork had been laid for talks between Xi and Trump set to take place on Thursday. They said the two sides had agreed t

US issues Iran travel warning, urges citizens to leave amid rising tensions

The US Virtual Embassy in Iran, in a security alert, said the regional security environment remained complex and warned of potential flight cancellations, airspace closures and other travel disruption

How AI risks are deepening divisions across Silicon Valley and Washington

The people building and governing AI increasingly fall into camps: Those who want to slow down and regulate development, those racing to speed it up and those in between or with shifting stances

US senators weigh requiring AI giants to commit to preventing catastrophe

AI-related stocks fell worldwide on Monday after leaders ‌of some of the industry's largest companies called for slowing ​the pace of the technology's development

Accenture to pay $25 mn to settle US govt allegations over DEI practices

Accenture

OpenAI board member says firm not doing enough, warns of catastrophic risks

Paul Christiano, who is a technology adviser to the US government, said the AI industry is not doing enough to reduce the risks posed by AI to an acceptable level.