Trump is now the confirmed winner of the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

In the early hours of Wednesday, 6 November 2024, Trump addressed supporters to announce his victory. Projections indicated he had won critical battleground states, including Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia. Shortly after his speech, the Associated Press called Wisconsin in his favour, sealing his path to the presidency.

“We made history for a reason tonight, and that reason is overcoming obstacles no one thought possible,” he stated, describing his win as “the most incredible political achievement.”

With victories across these key states, Trump’s success became clear.

“It’s real!” an excited young supporter shouted, rushing to the front of the crowd to high-five friends and strangers.

Trump was joined on stage by family members, including daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who had largely stayed out of the public eye during the campaign, along with close aides and enthusiastic supporters. He expressed his gratitude to his base and promised a new era of prosperity for the country.

Polling stations nationwide closed on 5 November, with election officials reporting a largely smooth process. To secure the presidency, a candidate must achieve at least 270 Electoral College votes.

Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, has yet to concede, leaving the next steps from her campaign uncertain as Trump’s team celebrates his victory and begins preparations for his second term.

Microsoft has confirmed it is laying off approximately 6,000 employees — roughly 3% of its global workforce — in what marks the company’s most significant round of job cuts since 2023.

In a statement to CNBC, a Microsoft spokesperson said:

We continue to implement organisational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace.

Despite reporting stronger-than-expected financial results in April — including a quarterly net income of $25.8 billion — the technology giant is undergoing broad workforce restructuring.

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The company had a global headcount of 228,000 employees as of the end of June.

In filings with the State of Washington on Tuesday, Microsoft disclosed plans to reduce its headcount at its Redmond headquarters by 1,985 roles, including 1,510 office-based positions.

The latest cuts span all departments, teams, and levels across the company, including subsidiaries such as LinkedIn and its Xbox division. However, the primary focus is reported to be on reducing layers of management, according to the Associated Press.

This move follows earlier, smaller-scale layoffs in January that were reportedly linked to performance assessments. Unlike those, the current round is not performance-related, Microsoft clarified.

The company, headquartered in Redmond, Washington, remains the most valuable publicly traded company globally, with a market captalisation of $3.337 trillion at the time of the announcement.

The restructuring is closely tied to Microsoft’s aggressive push into artificial intelligence. The firm is reallocating resources towards its AI strategy, with plans to invest $80 billion in AI development during its 2025 fiscal year.

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Across the tech industry, a trend towards streamlining management is gaining momentum. According to Business Insider, companies like Amazon are adjusting internal ratios to favour individual contributors over managers, while Google recently reduced vice president and managerial positions by 10% as part of broader efficiency measures.

Microsoft’s decision reflects both its strategic pivot towards emerging technologies and ongoing adjustments to a fast-evolving digital marketplace.

James Harrison, one of the world’s most prolific blood donors, credited with saving over 2.4 million babies, has passed away at the age of 88.

He died peacefully in his sleep at a nursing home in New South Wales, Australia, on 17 February, his family confirmed on Monday.

A Life-Saving Legacy

Harrison began donating blood in 1954, but doctors soon discovered something extraordinary—his blood contained rare and powerful antibodies against the D Rh group antigen.

This made his blood invaluable in the fight against haemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN), a condition that can occur when an Rh(D) negative mother carries an Rh(D) positive baby. Without intervention, this can lead to severe anaemia, brain damage, stillbirth, or neonatal death.

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Recognising the life-saving potential of his donations, Harrison became a founding donor of the New South Wales Rh Programme in 1969, one of the first of its kind worldwide. Unlike whole blood, plasma can be donated every two weeks, allowing him to make an astonishing 1,173 donations over his lifetime.

On 11 May 2018, at the age of 81, he made his final donation, adhering to Australian policies that prohibit blood donations from individuals over that age.

Through his dedication, Harrison played a role in every batch of anti-D treatment produced in New South Wales, preventing thousands of deaths and countless cases of illness and disability. His contributions earned him the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) on 7 June 1999.

Tributes from the Australian Red Cross Blood Service

Lifeblood Chief Executive Officer Stephen Cornelissen AM paid tribute to Harrison’s incredible generosity, stating:

James was a remarkable, kind, and generous person, committed to a lifetime of giving. He captured the hearts of people around the world.

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He extended his arm to help others—babies he would never know—1,173 times, expecting nothing in return. Even in his darkest days, after losing his wife Barbara, who was also a blood donor, he continued to give.

He leaves behind an extraordinary legacy, and it was his hope that one day, someone in Australia would surpass his donation record.

James Harrison’s selflessness changed the course of medical history, proving that one person’s kindness can save millions. His legacy will continue to impact lives for generations to come.

A year ago, if someone had told you a fresh-faced Chinese startup would rattle Silicon Valley with a game-changing AI model, you’d probably laugh it off as a plot twist from a tech thriller. But here we are. DeepSeek R1 has arrived, and it's stirring up both excitement and existential dread across the tech world.

Developed by the aptly named DeepSeek, a baby startup founded in late 2023, R1 has blindsided the industry with its shockingly low-cost, high-performance AI capabilities. Imagine GPT-4, Google’s Gemini, and Meta’s Llama rolled into one—but built for a fraction of the price. Tech billionaire Marc Andreessen dubbed it “AI’s Sputnik moment,” and Wall Street is sweating.

Budget AI? Yes, Really.

Here’s the kicker: DeepSeek claims to have spent a mere $5.6 million on powering its base AI model. Compare that to the billions America’s tech giants are pouring into their AI projects, and it feels like the industry just got trolled. Even more impressive (or unsettling, depending on who you ask), this was achieved using lower-grade AI chips—the kind Uncle Sam has been blocking from Chinese hands for years in the name of national security. And yet, here we are. Oops?

Who's Behind DeepSeek?

The brainchild of Liang Wenfeng, a Chinese hedge fund manager turned AI evangelist, DeepSeek has joined the elite ranks of companies riding the AI wave. Liang’s hedge fund, High-Flyer, has pivoted hard into AI, and the man himself has earned comparisons to Sam Altman—China’s version, but with more dumplings and less Silicon Valley jargon.

The company had been quietly building its reputation with earlier models like the V3, which showed promise but raised eyebrows over censorship concerns (let’s just say it wasn’t winning any awards for free speech). Then came R1, and suddenly DeepSeek became a household name in tech circles.

Why Everyone’s Losing Their Minds

AI, as we know, is a ravenous beast that devours electricity and money. To keep up, companies like Meta and OpenAI are dropping sums that make Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition look like petty cash. Case in point: Meta plans to spend $65 billion this year on AI alone.

Now enter DeepSeek, which claims to have built something nearly as powerful as its American competitors, but for pennies on the dollar. It’s like someone showing up to a luxury yacht party on a paddleboard—and still winning the race. This changes the game. If DeepSeek’s approach is replicable, it could massively lower the barriers to entry for AI innovation, potentially reshaping the industry and, well, the world.

Andreessen himself gushed about the development, calling it “one of the most impressive breakthroughs” he’s ever seen. And that’s from a guy who’s seen it all in Silicon Valley.

Trouble in Silicon Paradise

For the United States, this is more than just a tech story; it’s a geopolitical migraine. The U.S. has been throwing up roadblocks to slow down China’s AI progress—restricting chip exports, tightening regulations, and generally playing the global referee. Yet DeepSeek’s breakthrough suggests those efforts might be about as effective as a chocolate teapot.

The financial markets, unsurprisingly, are not thrilled. Nvidia, the chip giant riding the AI boom, saw its stock tumble 12% in premarket trading. Other tech heavyweights like Meta, Alphabet, and Oracle also took a hit. Wall Street hates surprises, and this one landed like a lead balloon.

Should We Believe the Hype?

Now, before you declare an AI revolution, it’s worth noting that DeepSeek’s cost claims haven’t been independently verified. The company hasn’t disclosed how much it spent on research and development, so there’s room for scepticism. But even if the costs are slightly higher, they’re still nowhere near the eye-watering sums being spent in the West.

And while R1 is certainly impressive, it’s not yet a Swiss Army knife of AI. It’s a consumer-focused large language model—a very clever chatbot, if you will. The kind of heavy-lifting AI needed for complex industries still demands serious infrastructure and investment, meaning American companies aren’t out of the running just yet.

What’s Next?

For now, the world will be watching to see if DeepSeek can keep up its momentum—and if the U.S. tech sector can innovate its way out of this existential wobble. One thing’s for sure: the AI arms race just got a lot more interesting, and the rules of the game might be changing faster than we thought.

Fasten your seatbelts; it’s going to be a wild ride.