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Biden is targeting big corporations and billionaires

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President Biden tried to revive his re-election campaign by delivering an animated and largely gaffe-free State of the Union address that focused on the economy and business.

In prime time, he pitched Bidenomics as a solution for Americans, outlining a policy wish list that could appeal to progressive voters and some in his party, but could also put him at odds with big business.

Heading toward a rematch with Donald Trump in November, Biden sought to frame the presidential race in stark pro-democracy terms while holding the business community accountable.

Some of the areas that can confuse business leaders: a call to increase the minimum tax for multinationals to 21 percent – ​​​​a move that appears to be aimed mainly at pharmaceutical companies. He also mentioned in his speech “Big Oil, private jets and huge executive pay” as areas ripe for increasing tax revenues.

Biden’s proposals go against the grain of some Trump-era policies, and that doesn’t sit well with some business groups. Neil Bradley, The chief policy officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the Biden plan “would actually result in lower economic growth, fewer new businesses, less job creation and fewer choices for American families.”

Biden emphasized the sharp contrast with Trump. The president has struggled to convince Americans that Bidenomics will help them, despite major industrial policy decisions such as the Inflation Reduction Act and measures to curb last year’s regional banking crisis.

Biden, who is trailing in some polls — but is cleaning up along with donors — said he has inherited “an economy on the brink” in 2021: It is now outperforming most advanced economies on a range of indicators.

Here are some of the key moments from Biden’s speech:

  • Biden pumped up his record on jobs, wage increases and investments. He pointed to the effects of his signature legislation, including reducing inflation, infrastructure, and the CHIPS and Science laws. “My policies have attracted $650 billion in private sector investment in clean energy and advanced manufacturing, creating tens of thousands of jobs here in America,” he said. (Fact checkers say this figure needs some context.)

  • He tackled the Achilles heel issue of inflation. Biden vowed to once again go after companies for price gouging, contraction inflation and junk fees, noting that price increases are on a downward trend. (And it is, albeit more slowly in recent months.)

  • Biden wants to raise taxes on big corporations and billionaires. Such measures would be a gamble if Republicans controlled the House. Biden added that making the wealthy pay more in taxes would help reduce the deficit.

  • He showed his union ties. Biden mentioned his “great friend,” Shawn Fain, the UAW president who attended the joint session of Congress. Both Biden and Trump are courting the unions, a key voting bloc in battleground states like Michigan.

  • Biden also made a big pitch for women. As a Catholic, Biden supported reproductive rights and the availability of in vitro fertilization. He predicted that the overturn of Roe v. Wade would catalyze the women’s vote.

Trump hit back on his Truth Social platform. Social media site glitches during the event, the former president’s attempts to deliver a rolling commentary were stymied. But he did come in a few widths about inflation and border security.

The State of the Union is usually a winner of the reviews. And judging by the reactions on social media, last night’s roughly 67-minute speech was also a closely watched affair.

Wall Street is focused on Friday’s jobs report. Economists predict employers added 200,000 jobs last month. That would be a decline from January’s blockbuster report, but would still indicate a healthy labor market. The Fed will be tuning in to wage growth data as it considers its next policy decision. The central bank is “not far” away from cutting interest rates, says Chairman Jay Powell. said Thursday.

Banking and business lobbies are taking on the government over the rule that credit card fees must be paid. Trade groups and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are suing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over a new rule that would cap late fees at $8 a month, in the latest clash between the banking industry and the financial watchdog.

Chinese tech giants reportedly relied on American technology to build advanced chips. Huawei and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. was able to obtain equipment from two American technology companies to manufacture a seven-nanometer chip. according to Bloomberg. The report suggests that Chinese companies are still able to circumvent Washington’s ban on high-tech exports to Beijing. Meanwhile, China is reportedly building one $27 billion chip fund.

A House bill that would force TikTok to do more to cut ties with China is moving inexorably toward a vote, despite a campaign by the social media giant to urge users to fight back.

That sets off a fight that could have a ripple effect on U.S.-China relations, the presidential election and the U.S. investment firms with major stakes in TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers approved the legislation 50-0. The influential House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday passed the bill that calls for TikTok to be banned from US app stores unless ByteDance divests itself. Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the majority leader, said the bill would go before the full House for a vote next week.

The battle between Washington and TikTok may be reaching its climax. U.S. officials have warned for years that TikTok poses a threat to national security, and the vote followed suit secret briefing about the risks the app poses to Americans. Even the White House appeared to back the effort, allowing National Security Council officials to help draft the measure, even as President Biden recently joined TikTok to reach younger voters.

TikTok doesn’t give up. The company urged users to contact their representatives in Washington to stop the bill before Thursday’s vote, and congressional offices were flooded with calls. TikTok claims it has become economically important and created jobs and prosperity for Americans. The company has also deployed US users to spread that message, spending millions on lobbyists, though some analysts say those lobbyists apparently blinded due to this week’s events.)

The company goes to great lengths to show that it is separate from ByteDance. TikTok is based in Singapore and is not available in China. It has also proposed building a data server for US users in Texas in partnership with Oracle.

These moves may worry some U.S. investors. ByteDance’s largest backers include Carlyle, General Atlantic, Susquehanna Investment Group and Coatue Management. Some top executives, including General Atlantic’s Bill Ford, Susquehanna’s Arthur Dantchik and Coatue’s Philippe Lafont, sit on ByteDance’s board.

TikTok says it is proof that ByteDance isn’t really Chinese. But few American lawmakers are convinced.

Add Ray Dalio to the list of Taylor Swift fans who have described her Eras Tour as revelatory: the billionaire founder of Bridgewater Associates, who usually uses social media to share thoughts from his books instead of selfies, posted a photo of herself on X Thursday after seeing the singer in Singapore. His post read: “She can bring Americans and people in most countries together far better than any of the candidates” running for the White House. “@taylorswift13 for president!”

A week after Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, more details are emerging about the machinations behind the attempted coup against CEO Sam Altman that threw the startup into turmoil three months ago. A central player has emerged in the Shakespearean drama: Mira Murati, the CTO of OpenAI, who briefly replaced Altman at the helm of the company, writes The Times’ Mike Isaac, Tripp Mickle and Cade Metz.

Altman’s leadership style concerned Murati. She expressed her concerns in a private memo to Altman and approached several board members with her concerns in October. That was the basis for the decision to fire him, according to people with knowledge of the board’s discussions.

Altman was portrayed as manipulative and unhappy about the challenge. Murati said Altman’s playbook was designed to charm people into getting their support, then turn on them when they disagreed. (In a message to OpenAI employees after the Times article was published, she said that she and Altman “have a strong and productive partnership and that I have not been shy about sharing feedback directly with him.”)

OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever raised similar issues. According to the people, Sutskever expressed his concerns to the board around the same time as the Murati memo. He joined other board members on a video call in November to tell Altman he was out. What Altman did not know was that Sutskever and several board members had been discussing Altman’s behavior for months.

Murati and Sutskever are crucial for OpenAI. Murati is essentially the head of operations and joins after a stint at Tesla. Sutskever is one of the world’s top AI researchers (he is a protégé of Geoff Hinton, an AI pioneer who left Google last year to warn about the dangers of the technology). Musk, co-founder of OpenAI, helped recruit Sutskever.

Altman’s control of OpenAI’s venture capital fund was another red flag. The OpenAI Startup Fund was owned by Altman rather than having a more typical setup as a legal extension of the company. Some board members worried he was using the fund to avoid oversight from OpenAI’s nonprofit governance structure, at a time when the startup was seeking billions to further its commercial ambitions.

OpenAI downplayed the rifts. Hannah Wong, a spokesperson for the company, told the Times in a statement that Murati and the senior leadership team unanimously asked Altman to return, as CEO Murati and Sutskever declined to comment but have publicly supported his reinstatement.

What now? OpenAI hired law firm WilmerHale to review the incident; the report is expected in the coming days.

(The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft in December for copyright infringement of news content related to AI systems.)

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