jili178 log in Article content FBI Director Christopher A. Wray said Wednesday that he would resign at the end of President Joe Biden’s administration, which means President-elect Donald Trump will not have to fire him to nominate longtime ally Kash Patel to lead the bureau. Recommended Videos Trump announced in late November that he wanted to nominate Patel, who has echoed the president-elect’s pledges to make major changes at the bureau and use federal law enforcement agencies to go after Trump’s perceived enemies. The FBI director is subject to Senate confirmation and is eligible to serve a 10-year term. “Kash did an incredible job during my First Term,” Trump said on Truth Social, citing Patel’s various roles including at the Defense Department and the National Security Council. The president-elect said that Patel would “bring back Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity to the FBI.” Patel, who served as a senior official in the first Trump administration, is the author of a book that includes a list of “deep state” officials to target – which Trump called a “blueprint to help us take back the White House and remove these Gangsters from all of Government,” according to promotional material. Here’s what to know about Patel. He supports Trump’s push for retribution Accounts of Patel’s rise from an obscure Hill staffer to one of the most powerful players in the intelligence community have centred on a key detail: his loyalty to Trump and willingness to go after Trump’s perceived opponents throughout the bureaucracy. Patel’s appointment could stoke growing concern about potential retribution among those whom Trump has described as his enemies, in the government and beyond. Some named on his “deep state” target list have begun taking precautions, The Washington Post has reported. In a 2023 interview on “War Room,” a podcast hosted Stephen K. Bannon, Trump’s onetime chief strategist, Patel threatened to go after journalists if appointed to a role in a Trump administration. “We’re going to come after you, whether it’s criminally or civilly – we’ll figure that out,” he said. The Associated Press described Patel this year as Trump’s “trusted aide and swaggering campaign surrogate who mythologizes the former president while promoting conspiracy theories and his own brand.” He served in the first Trump administration Patel held multiple roles: chief of staff to acting defence secretary Christopher Miller, deputy assistant to the president, senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council and deputy to the acting director of national intelligence. In his final job as the chief of staff at the Defense Department, The Washington Post’s David Ignatius wrote in 2021, Patel challenged the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, nearly becoming the acting director of the CIA. Of his stint under the DNI, Ignatius wrote that Patel effectively ran the place. In the last months of his presidency, Trump considered installing Patel as the FBI’s deputy director. That move was blocked by Attorney General William P. Barr. Barr reportedly told White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that Patel would be deputy director “over my dead body.” Patel is a director on the board of Trump Media Technology Group, the company that owns Truth Social. He is active on the platform, frequently resharing Trump’s posts to his 1.35 million followers. He played a key role in the Nunes memo Patel served as an adviser to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-California) when Nunes chaired the House Intelligence Committee in 2017 and 2018. A memo written by Patel, claiming that the surveillance warrant targeting an adviser to the Trump campaign was flawed, quickly became the centre of a political firestorm. The Nunes memo, as it came to be known, said the application for a warrant to surveil Carter Page, a Trump foreign policy adviser in 2016, was based in part on information from a former British intelligence officer who allegedly was biased against Trump. The memo concluded that the warrant was invalid and, thus, the investigation into Trump regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election was tainted. He is a child of immigrants In his book “Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth and the Battle for Our Democracy,” Patel describes his parents as working-class Hindu immigrants from India. The family did not eat meat at home, he writes, describing weekly jaunts to the Jackson Heights neighbourhood in Queens with his father for butter chicken. He was drawn to becoming a doctor, like a “stereotypical Indian American,” he writes, but gave up after looking up medical school programs and coming across a group of golf-playing defence lawyers while caddying at the Garden City Country Club in Long Island. “Instead of being a first generation immigrant golf caddie, I could be a first-generation immigrant lawyer at a white shoe firm making a ton of money,” he wrote. Patel attended the University of Richmond and earned a law degree at Pace University in New York before working for nearly a decade as a public defender in Florida.Pingpong hybrid nets $150K from restaurant founder on “Shark Tank”

indie Semiconductor: Back On TrackAP Trending SummaryBrief at 3:14 p.m. EST

Taiwan deputy foreign minister attends Somaliland presidential inauguration

Ford, General Motors, Stellantis Stocks Dip On Trump’s Tariff Threat To Mexico, Canada: Retail Saw It ComingMinnesotans’ generosity on this year’s Give to the Max Day surpassed the previous record by almost $3 million. It’s a pleasant surprise for Give MN’s executive director Jake Blumberg, who said he had concerns given the current divisive economic climate. “I think we all know right now that prices have been high at checkout lanes throughout our lives and nonprofits have been experiencing the same thing,” Blumberg said. “ And it seems to us that donors really recognized that and wanted to step up to help the organizations that help their neighbors.” In 2020, Give MN saw the state break $30 million in donations, and it’s been consistently increasing since then. Blumberg said this shows Minnesotans care deeply about one another and Give to the Max gives them a chance to find common ground. This year saw more donations than years before and in higher amounts. The average donation went from $117 over the last few years to $134. “Will that trend continue? We sure hope it does, because the need for support from donors is going to continue to be at historic levels,” he said. “We know the need has only grown since 2020 and it’s certainly anticipated to continue growing. So hopefully donors continue to meet that challenge.” Nationally, donation trends have plateaued, but Blumberg says Minnesota has been an outlier since the pandemic. “There have been multiple years now where other giving events, like Give to the Max Day and other giving trends around individual donors have showed declines, and Minnesota has bucked those national trends, and this is one of those years,” Blumberg said. Blumberg said people give based on their values. Compared to previous years, more contributions were made to organizations that prioritized direct and social services, in addition to hunger relief organizations and those supporting unsheltered people and animals.

Advertisement Amazon on Friday announced another $4 billion investment in the AI startup Anthropic. The deal includes an agreement for Anthropic to use Amazon's AI chips more. The cloud giant is trying to challenge Nvidia and get developers to switch away from those GPUs. Amazon's Trainium chips are about to get a lot busier — at least that's what Amazon hopes will happen after it pumps another $4 billion into the AI startup Anthropic . The companies announced a huge new deal on Friday that brings Amazon's total investment in Anthropic to $8 billion. The goal of all this money is mainly to get Amazon's AI chips to be used more often to train and run large language models. Advertisement Anthropic said that in return for this cash injection, it would use AWS as its "primary cloud and training partner." It said it would also help Amazon design future Trainium chips and contribute to building out an Amazon AI-model-development platform called AWS Neuron. This is an all-out assault on Nvidia , which dominates the AI chip market with its GPUs, servers, and CUDA platform. Nvidia's stock dropped by more than 3% on Friday after the Amazon-Anthropic news broke. The challenge will be getting Anthropic to actually use Trainium chips in big ways. Switching away from Nvidia GPUs is complicated, time-consuming, and risky for AI-model developers, and Amazon has struggled with this . Advertisement Earlier this week, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei didn't sound like he was all in on Amazon's Trainium chips, despite another $4 billion coming his way. "We use Nvidia, but we also use custom chips from both Google and Amazon," he said at the Cerebral Valley tech conference in San Francisco. "Different chips have different trade-offs. I think we're getting value from all of them." In 2023, Amazon made its first investment in Anthropic , agreeing to put in $4 billion. That deal came with similar strings attached. At the time, Anthropic said that it would use Amazon's Trainium and Inferentia chips to build, train, and deploy future AI models and that the companies would collaborate on the development of chip technology. Advertisement It's unclear whether Anthropic followed through. The Information reported recently that Anthropic preferred to use Nvidia GPUs rather than Amazon AI chips. The publication said the talks about this latest investment focused on getting Anthropic more committed to using Amazon's offerings. There are signs that Anthropic could be more committed now, after getting another $4 billion from Amazon. In Friday's announcement, Anthropic said it was working with Amazon on its Neuron software, which offers the crucial connective tissue between the chip and the AI models. This competes with Nvidia's CUDA software stack, which is the real enabler of Nvidia's GPUs and makes these components very hard to swap out for other chips. Nvidia has a decadelong head start on CUDA, and competitors have found that difficult to overcome. Advertisement Anthropic's " deep technical collaboration " suggests a new level of commitment to using and improving Amazon's Trainium chips. Though several companies make chips that compete with or even beat Nvidia's in certain elements of computing performance, no other chip has touched the company in terms of market or mind share. Related stories Amazon's AI chip journey Amazon is on a short list of cloud providers attempting to stock their data centers with their own AI chips and avoid spending heavily on Nvidia GPUs, which have profit margins that often exceed 70% . Advertisement Amazon debuted its Trainium and Inferentia chips — named after the training and inference tasks they're built for — in 2020. The aim was to become less dependent on Nvidia and find a way to make cloud computing in the AI age cheaper. "As customers approach higher scale in their implementations, they realize quickly that AI can get costly," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said on the company's October earnings call. "It's why we've invested in our own custom silicon in Trainium for training and Inferentia for inference." Advertisement But like its many competitors, Amazon has found that breaking the industry's preference for Nvidia is difficult. Some say that's because of CUDA, which offers an abundant software stack with libraries, tools, and troubleshooting help galore. Others say it's simple habit or convention. In May, the Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon told Business Insider he wasn't aware of any companies using Amazon chips at scale. With Friday's announcement, that might change. Advertisement Jassy said in October that the next-generation Trainium 2 chip was ramping up. "We're seeing significant interest in these chips, and we've gone back to our manufacturing partners multiple times to produce much more than we'd originally planned," Jassy said. Still, Anthropic's Amodei sounded this week like he was hedging his bets. "We believe that our mission is best served by being an independent company," he said. "If you look at our position in the market and what we've been able to do, the independent partnerships we have Google, with Amazon, with others, I think this is very viable."Sean 'Diddy' Combs' third bid to be released on bail won't be decided until next week

Eric Bieniemy out as UCLA's offensive coordinator. AP source says Tino Sunseri tabbed as replacement

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Eric Bieniemy's return to UCLA lasted only one season. The Bruins let go of Bieniemy on Thursday after fielding one of the nation's worst offenses this season. It didn't take head coach DeShaun Foster long to find a replacement. Indiana quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri will become the new Bruins offensive coordinator, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Bruins had not yet announced the decision. Sunseri spent one season at Indiana after following Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti from James Madison. Cignetti and Sunseri worked together for four seasons, the first three with the Dukes, who made the most successful transition from FCS to FBS in history. Bieniemy was hired as associate head coach and offensive coordinator shortly after Foster was hired as head coach in February. Bieniemy was also on the Bruins staff from 2003-05 as running backs coach. Jason Fletcher, Bieniemy's agent, said in a statement that Bieniemy planned to stay only one season in Westwood and termed it a “mutual parting of the ways.” However, Bieniemy signed a two-year contract at UCLA and did have a retention bonus if he was on staff for the 2025 season. "After interviewing for head coaching jobs last year, he wanted to stay active and busy," Fletcher said. “So, he decided to go help out Deshaun Foster, who is like his little brother, at UCLA as opposed to sitting out a year.” Out of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, UCLA was 117th in total offense (328.8 yards per game), 126th in scoring (18.4 points per game) and had the nation's fifth-worst rushing attack (86.6 yards per game). The Bruins — 5-7 in their first season in the Big Ten after qualifying for a bowl the last three years — were the sixth Power Five team since 2000 that didn't score at least 20 points in their first six games. Players also said early in the season that Bieniemy's scheme was difficult to grasp and that play calls could be too wordy. Bieniemy was a two-time Super Bowl champion offensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs but his last two stops have not gone well. He was Washington's offensive coordinator in 2023 but was not retained after Ron Rivera was fired. Bieniemy said in an email to ESPN earlier this year that he was not fired by Washington and that he received NFL offers to coach running backs or be a passing game coordinator. However, when asked during UCLA's spring practice to explain those remarks or what his other job prospects were, he refused to do so. “What I’m going say is this: I’m here coaching at UCLA. All that other stuff, you could go talk to the Commanders. I’ll leave it just like that,” he said. Bieniemy wasn’t retained by new Commanders coach Dan Quinn, who replaced Rivera. Despite his success in Kansas City, Bieniemy hasn’t landed a heading coach job, even though he’s interviewed with more than half of the NFL’s 32 teams. Fletcher said: "The plan was always to return to the NFL in 2025, and he’s looking forward to the opportunities ahead.” Sunseri's immediate priority will be to stem any further losses to the transfer portal. Quarterback Justyn Martin — who was on track to compete for the starting job following the graduation of Ethan Garbers — and running back T.J. Harden have already entered the portal. At Indiana, Sunseri worked closely with Kurtis Rourke, a transfer from Mid-American Conference school Ohio. Rourke went on to have one of the best seasons in Hoosiers history as No. 9 Indiana (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten, No. 9 CFP) broke single-season school records for victories and conference wins and appears set to make its CFP debut in two weeks. Sunseri, like Cignetti, also coached previously at Alabama. Sunseri served as a graduate assistant for the Crimson Tide in 2019 and 2020 after previous stints at Florida State and Tennessee. The 35-year-old Sunseri also spent three seasons with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, winning a Grey Cup title as a rookie in 2013 following his college career at Pittsburgh. Marot reported from Indianapolis. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballMinnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah hit on a number of short-term free agent signings this past offseason, with quarterback Sam Darnold, running back Aaron Jones, cornerbacks Stephon Gilmore and Shaq Griffin, and defensive lineman Jerry Tillery producing strong returns on team-friendly, one-year deals. That’s the good news for 2024. The bad for this coming offseason is that the Vikings will have a number of tough decisions to make among their own impending free agents, including as many as eight starters. Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report sees plenty of competition for those players looming come March. In his recent AFC scouting reports for Week 15, Ballentine predicted the Denver Broncos will poach Jones from Minnesota in an effort to bolster their chances at competing for a Super Bowl. MORE: Proposed Vikings signing would land 4-time Pro Bowler as Stephon Gilmore insurance Here was Ballentine’s take on Jones potentially becoming a Bronco in 2025: “It's unfortunate, but it's looking less likely that Javonte Williams will reach the potential that he showed as a rookie. The injuries have sapped some of his explosiveness, and he's averaged 3.6 yards per carry in each of the last two seasons. Free agency isn't typically the best way to address the running back position. It's a young man's game, and that's going to hurt Aaron Jones' market as a 30-year-old back. However, signing him to be part of a committee next season would be a smart idea.” The Vikings signed Jones to a one-year contract worth $7 million for this season. The deal included a $4 million signing bonus , but Jones will earn that money in prorated $800,000 annual payments regardless of where he plays in 2025 and beyond. Those four “void years” in Jones’ contract make him a likely candidate for a contract extension, especially after a strong debut season in Minnesota. The Broncos could definitely use an alpha in their current committee, as their group of Williams, Jaleel McLaughlin and rookie Audric Estime has delivered inconsistent returns in 2024. The Broncos are 20th in the NFL in rushing entering Week 15, and Williams is the team’s leading rusher with just 446 yards in 13 games. Jones just might be out of Denver’s reach this March. Minnesota will likely make retaining him a priority, as he’s helped balance and transform one of the NFL’s most efficient offenses. The Vikings also have a significant future need at the position, with Jones on an expiring contract and no starting caliber talent currently developing behind him. Even on the wrong side of 30, Jones would have multiple suitors if allowed to test the open market. His most likely destination at this point in the process, though, remains Minnesota. Related Minnesota Vikings stories: Kirk Cousins sounds off on Sam Darnold, loss to Vikings in return to Minnesota Insider: Vikings should plan for future, land 6-foot-3 lockdown corner in 2025 NFL Draft Analyst drops bold take on Sam Darnold, J.J. McCarthy’s future as Vikings starter Vikings should pay Sam Darnold, follow Packers model at QB with J.J. McCarthy