How robotic surgery is changing the medical field
In this episode of Smarter Faster: Transformation
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In this episode of Smarter Faster: Transformation
Photo: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images
White House counsel Don McGahn lobbied Attorney General Jeff Sessions not to recuse himself from the Russia probe at the direction of President Trump, the New York Times' Mike Schmidt reports.
Other details from the report:
Illustration: Rebecca Zisser / Axios
After more than a day of silence, Apple confirmed Thursday that the Mac, iPhone and iPad are all affected by the recently disclosed massive chip vulnerability.
Why it matters: Although the vulnerabilities are at the hardware level, most of the mitigations are being done at the operating system level, putting the onus on companies like Apple, Microsoft and Google. Microsoft and Google have already released and detailed patches for Windows, Chrome OS and Android. (For more on the Meltdown and Spectre, check out our explainer here.)
The company said in an online support document that it has recently added security protections to MacOS and iOS designed to prevent one series of attacks, known as Meltdown, and is working to update Safari to prevent against another type of attack, dubbed Spectre. The Apple Watch is not affected, it said.
Apple said there are no known exploits for the vulnerabilities and said the iOS and MacOS updates "resulted in no measurable reduction in the performance of macOS and iOS" as measured by various benchmark tests.
The current updates to MacOS and iOS protect against Meltdown, but Apple said it will look to incorporate better protections against Spectre-type attacks in future updates to those operating systems.
The bigger immediate threat from Spectre, Apple said, is in the Safari browser. "Analysis of these techniques revealed that while they are extremely difficult to exploit, even by an app running locally on a Mac or iOS device, they can be potentially exploited in JavaScript running in a web browser," Apple said. "Apple will release an update for Safari on macOS and iOS in the coming days to mitigate these exploit techniques."
Apple said its current testing shows little impact on most benchmarks with a 2.5% impact on one test, known as JetStream. "We continue to develop and test further mitigations within the operating system for the Spectre techniques, and will release them in upcoming updates of iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS."
Lazaro Gamio / Axios
Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick tendered half his 10% stake in the ride-hail giant to Japan's SoftBank, via a process that concluded just before year-end. The offer was oversubscribed by 42%, so he ultimately will be allowed to sell 29% of his holdings.
Why it matters: Kalanick often talked about how he had never sold a single share in Uber, saying it reflected his belief in the company's future fortunes. This stood in stark contrast to how many other "unicorn" CEOs cashed in before their companies went public.
Bottom line: Kalanick has often been referred to as a billionaire, but that's always been on paper. Now it will be legitimate.
Kim Jong-Un gives his New Year's speech, Photo: JUNG YEON-JE / AFP / Getty Images
The AP reports that "North Korea has agreed to hold high-level talks with South Korea next Tuesday."
Why it matters: South Korea proposed the talks earlier this week, primarily focusing on the Olympics and any military drills, after Kim Jong-un struck a softer-than-expected line in a New Years address. Per Axios' Shannon Vavra, this will be the first official dialogue between North and South Korea since last year.
Go deeper: Trump took credit for the planned dialogue.
The front page of an Ankara newspaper showing Atilla in the courtroom. Photo: Altan Gocher / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a Turkish banker, has been found guilty of bank fraud and conspiracy due to his involvement in a plot to help Iran evade U.S. sanctions. Atilla's conviction in New York has spurred anger in Ankara, with Turkey's foreign ministry accusing the U.S, of "unprecedented intervention in Turkey's domestic affairs," per BBC News.
Why it matters: Atilla was convicted based on statements by Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab, who spoke after admitting to taking part in the scheme himself, the BBC reports. And "Zarrab's schemes, which could have helped Iran pocket more than $100 billion, rank among the largest sanctions evasion episode in modern history," Jonathan Schanzer of FDD — a Washington-based national security research firm — wrote in the Atlantic.
Sean Spicer said Thursday that he "screwed up" at times but never intentionally lied while he was White House Press Secretary. Spicer was interviewed on S.E. Cupp's HLN show Unfiltered
Key quote: "And so when I screwed up, it felt really bad. Because you realize that you're tarnishing your personal reputation, your family's reputation, your friends who like you and support you, you know, some of your colleagues and ultimately again, this administration and the American people who I wanted to do my best job for every single day."
A protester under a flag of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. Photo: EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP / Getty Images
Photo: Chris Pizzello / AP
The Weinstein Co. film studio, founded by disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, is close to a sale for less than $500 million, The Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders may lose all of their equity, sources tell The Journal. Roughly half of the acquisition would be debt. Operating expenses and legal bills would likely strip the current owners from receiving any cash from a sale at that price, sources added.
Why it matters: Movie releases and corporate logistics have been in limbo since Weinstein was ousted from the company after dozens of high-profile accusations of sexual assault. A sale would be a refresh for the company, its investors (WPP Group, Goldman Sachs, Softbank) and its Hollywood contractors.
Sources tell the Journal that roughly 20 bids have come in for the company since December, and that the Weinstein Co.'s owners and board of directors have narrowed down a list of six potential buyers. Some of the bidders are interested only in certain assets of the company, like its television production company or film library.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai last year. Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai canceled his speaking appearance at the widely attended Consumer Electronics Show after receiving death threats, according to an FCC official. Details of the threats to Pai remain unclear.
Why it matters: The debate around FCC's move to reverse net neutrality rules drew sharp criticism from net neutrality supporters, including some threats of violence. A bomb threat was reportedly called into the agency before the commissioners voted on the repeal last month — although its origin was not known.
What they're saying: "We look forward to our next opportunity to host a technology policy discussion with him before a public audience," Consumer Technology Association President Gary Shapiro said in a statement sent out about the cancelation. FCC spokesman Brian Hart declined to comment beyond saying Pai would not attend CES. Digital Music News, an industry blog, and Recode earlier reported the circumstances of Pai's decision to cancel on the annual Las Vegas trade show.
Steve Bannon. Photo: Andrew Harrer / Getty
Rebekah Mercer, a primary financial supporter of Steve Bannon and Breitbart News, has released a statement saying she and her billionaire father have not spoken to Bannon "in many months" and do not support his "recent actions and statements," after Bannon attacked President Trump and his family in interviews for a forthcoming book, per the Washington Post.
Meanwhile, the Mercers and other Breitbart board members have seriously discussed removing Steve Bannon as chairman of Breitbart due to his feud with Trump, the Wall Street Journal reports and Axios' Jonathan Swan has corroborated.
Why it matters: If the Mercers abandon Bannon he'll be left without the main funders of his political activities, harming his ability to take on the GOP establishment in this year's midterm elections. Mercer said in the statement that her family has "provided no financial support to [Bannon's] political agenda" in recent months.
Ricardo Rossello, governor of Puerto Rico, speaks during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló has created a task force to examine the death toll from Hurricane MarÃa and release its findings within 90 days, per Reuters.
Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP / Getty Images
Michael Wolff's new book "Fire and Fury," which details an inside-look of President Trump's White House, is being released on Friday, four days earlier than planned, according to his publisher.
Why it matters: One of Trump's lawyers sent a cease and desist letter to Wolff and president and publisher Henry Holt earlier on Thursday, demanding they cease "further publication, release or dissemination of the Book."
Go deeper: 10 of Wolff's big revelations unrelated to Bannon.
In this episode of Smarter Faster: Transformation