The Democratic governors of Rhode Island and Connecticut promised on Saturday to fight a Trump administration order halting work on a nearly complete wind farm off their coasts that was expected to be operational next year.
The Revolution Wind project was about 80% complete, with 45 of its 65 turbines already installed, according to the Danish wind farm developer Ørsted, when the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management sent the firm a letter on Friday ordering it to “halt all ongoing activities”.
“In particular, BOEM is seeking to address concerns related to the protection of national security interests in the United States,” wrote Matt Giacona, the agency’s acting director, adding that Ørsted “may not resume activities” until the agency has completed a review of the project.
Giacona said that the project, which had already cleared years of federal and state reviews, now needs to be re-examined in light of Donald Trump’s order, on the first day of his second term, to consider “terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases”.
Giacona, whose prior work as a lobbyist for the offshore oil industry alarmed consumer advocates, also said that the review was necessary to “address concerns related to the protection of national security interests of the United States”. He did not specify what those national security concerns are.
Rhode Island’s governor, Dan McKee, criticized the stop-work order and said he and Connecticut’s governor, Ned Lamont, “will pursue every avenue to reverse the decision to halt work on Revolution Wind”, which was “just steps away from powering more than 350,000 homes”.
Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, connected the decision to Trump’s reported pitch last year to oil industry executives to trade $1bn in campaign donations for regulatory favors. “When the oil industry showed up at Mar-a-Lago with a set of demands in exchange for a $1 billion of campaign support for Trump, this is what they were asking for: the destruction of clean energy in America,” Murpy said in a statement.
“This is a story of corruption, plain and simple. President Trump has sold our country out to big corporations with the oil and gas industry at the top of the list,” the senator added. “I will work with my colleagues and Governor Lamont to pursue all legal paths to get this project back on track.”
Since returning to office, Trump has taken sweeping actions to prioritize fossil fuels and hinder renewable energy projects. Throughout his time in public office, Trump has repeatedly brought up his visceral hatred for wind power, apparently prompted by his belief that offshore turbines spoil the views at his golf courses, and his embrace of the bizarre theory that “the noise causes cancer”.
Trump recently called wind and solar power “THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY!” in a social media post and vowed not to approve wind or “farmer destroying Solar” projects.
Rhode Island’s attorney general, Peter Neronha, said in a statement on Saturday that, without the Revolution Wind project, the state’s Act on Climate law, which aims to use renewable energy to battle global warming, “is dead in the water”.
Scientists agree that nations need to rapidly embrace renewable energy to stave off the worst effects of climate change, including extreme heat and drought; larger, more intense wildfires and supercharged hurricanes, typhoons and rainstorms that lead to catastrophic flooding.
Construction on Revolution Wind began in 2023, and the project was expected to be fully operational next year. Ørsted says it is evaluating the financial impact of stopping construction and considering legal proceedings.
Revolution Wind is located more than 15 miles (24km) south of the Rhode Island coast, 32 miles (51km) south-east of the Connecticut coast and 12 miles (19km) south-west of Martha’s Vineyard. Rhode Island is already home to one offshore wind farm, the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm.
Revolution Wind was expected to be Rhode Island and Connecticut’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, capable of powering more than 350,000 homes. The densely populated states have minimal space available for land-based energy projects, which is why the offshore wind project is considered crucial for the states to meet their climate goals.
Wind power is the largest source of renewable energy in the US and provides about 10% of the electricity generated in the nation.
Green Oceans, a non-profit that opposes the offshore wind industry, and sued in federal court last year to stop the 83,798-acre (33,912-hectare) Revolution Wind project on environmental grounds, applauded the decision. “We are grateful that the Trump Administration and the federal government are taking meaningful action to preserve the fragile ocean environment off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts,” the non-profit said in a statement.
This is the second major offshore wind project the Trump White House has halted. Work was previously stopped on Empire Wind, a New York offshore wind project, but construction was allowed to resume after New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, and senator Chuck Schumer intervened.
“This administration has it exactly backwards. It’s trying to prop up clunky, polluting coal plants while doing all it can to halt the fastest growing energy sources of the future – solar and wind power,” Kit Kennedy, managing director for the power division at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, every American is paying the price for these misguided decisions.”
Big numbers often get thrown around in the aftermath of legal battles, as judges hand down judgements—or attorneys arrange settlement amounts—in the tens, or hundreds, of millions of dollars. Still, even jaded legal observers can occasionally run into a genuinely daunting number while parsing this stuff. Like, say, the $1.5 billion settlement that AI company Anthropic has agreed to pay in the ongoing class-action suit against it, launched by authors who said the company infringed on their copyrighted works by feeding them as training data to its “AI assistant” Claude. Sure, parts of that sum (calculated at $3,000 per work for a staggering number of works, and with its first $300 million installment due just five days after the settlement is approved) might potentially vanish in a puff of future bankruptcy. But it’s still the “largest publicly reported copyright recovery in history,” according to legal documents from the authors’ attorneys.
That being said, the win here on the wider AI front is quite a bit less clear than “hand our clients the annual estimated GDP of Grenada” might suggest. Yes, U.S. District Judge William Alsup set the stage for Anthropic to eat that massive price tag by ruling that the company clearly violated copyright agreements via how it acquired the books it fed into its own personal woodchipper. (I.e., downloading pirated datasets of millions of books that had been floating around the internet.) And, yes, the settlement will require Anthropic to destroy those “shadow library” datasets in its possession. (But notably, with no actual changes to the Claude large language model itself.) Most critically, though, back in June, Alsup also ruled that “reproducing purchased-and-scanned books to train AI” falls under fair use, calling the case “exceedingly transformative” as a justification for the designation.
As such, both sides in the fight issued statements claiming a form of victory today, with the authors’ side focusing mostly on the massive size of the settlement amount. Anthropic, meanwhile—which has been backed in the past with more than $6 billion in contributions from Amazon and Google—focused its statements on the legal precedent it achieved in the case: “In June, the District Court issued a landmark ruling on AI development and copyright law, finding that Anthropic’s approach to training AI models constitutes fair use. Today’s settlement, if approved, will resolve the plaintiffs’ remaining legacy claims.” What this likely means is that AI companies aren’t going to slow down—especially with, say, a $1.5 billion mortgage suddenly hanging over their heads—but simply become a lot more choosy about how they get their training data.
Broadcom Inc. ((AVGO)) has held its Q3 earnings call. Read on for the main highlights of the call.
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The recent earnings call from Broadcom Inc. showcased a strong performance in AI semiconductors and infrastructure software, with record revenues and a solid backlog. Despite some challenges in the non-AI semiconductor segment and pressures on gross margins due to product mix, the overall sentiment was optimistic. The positive highlights significantly outweighed the lowlights, indicating a promising outlook for future growth, particularly in AI.
Record-Breaking Revenue and Growth
Broadcom Inc. reported a record total revenue of $16 billion, marking a 22% increase year-on-year. This impressive growth was primarily driven by the strong performance in AI semiconductors and the expansion of VMware. The company’s ability to achieve such significant revenue growth underscores its strategic focus on high-growth areas.
AI Semiconductor Growth
The AI semiconductor segment was a standout performer, generating $5.2 billion in revenue, which represents a 63% increase year-on-year. This marks the 10th consecutive quarter of robust growth in this segment. Looking ahead, Broadcom forecasts AI semiconductor revenue to reach approximately $6.2 billion in Q4, up 66% year-on-year, highlighting the company’s leadership in this rapidly expanding market.
Infrastructure Software Segment Performance
Broadcom’s infrastructure software segment also delivered strong results, with revenue reaching $6.8 billion, up 17% year-on-year. The total contract value booked during Q3 was $8.4 billion, reflecting the company’s strength in securing long-term commitments from customers.
Strong Backlog and Bookings
The company’s consolidated backlog reached a record $110 billion, with bookings showing robust growth, particularly in AI. This substantial backlog provides a solid foundation for future revenue and demonstrates strong customer demand across Broadcom’s product lines.
CEO Tenure Extension
In a significant leadership development, Broadcom’s board and CEO Hock Tan have agreed that he will continue as the CEO through at least 2030. This extension provides stability and continuity in leadership, which is crucial for executing the company’s long-term strategic vision.
Non-AI Semiconductor Demand
While the AI segment thrived, the non-AI semiconductor demand remained sluggish, with Q3 revenue of $4 billion flat sequentially. Enterprise networking and service storage experienced sequential declines, with only broadband showing strong growth. This highlights the challenges Broadcom faces in certain segments of its semiconductor business.
Gross Margin Impact
Broadcom anticipates a slight decline in its Q4 consolidated gross margin, down approximately 70 basis points sequentially. This is primarily due to a higher mix of XPUs and wireless revenue, which impacts the overall product mix and margin structure.
Forward-Looking Guidance
During the earnings call, Broadcom provided robust guidance for the upcoming quarter and fiscal year. The company forecasts Q4 2025 consolidated revenue of $17.4 billion, up 24% year-on-year, with AI semiconductor revenue expected to reach $6.2 billion, up 66% year-on-year. Infrastructure software revenue is projected at $6.7 billion, up 15% year-on-year. Broadcom anticipates an adjusted EBITDA margin of 67% for Q4, with continued growth in the AI business and the addition of a significant fourth customer expected to positively impact fiscal 2026.
In summary, Broadcom Inc.’s latest earnings call highlighted a strong performance in AI semiconductors and infrastructure software, with record revenues and a promising outlook for future growth. Despite some challenges in non-AI segments and margin pressures, the overall sentiment was optimistic, driven by significant achievements and robust forward-looking guidance.
At 84, veteran mogul John Malone is still a power broker, hinting at “further consolidation in the media industry” following a recent sit down with David Ellison. Should we be on the lookout for a Warner–Paramount merger? Meanwhile in Vegas, the Sphere’s $100 million Wizard of Oz reimagining leans on AI to expand the visuals and even slip in cameos of David Zaslav and James Dolan. The Directors Guild did not take kindly to the stunt. Partners in Banter Kim Masters and Matt Belloni pull back the curtain on the Sphere’s Emerald City sideshow.
Plus, Masters speaks with Runway co-founder Cristóbal Valenzuela about the role of artificial intelligence in Hollywood. The Chilean-born developer acknowledges that AI may lead to some job losses, but he argues it will ultimately benefit filmmakers. He explains why studios including Lionsgate, Netflix, and Disney are already using Runway’s tools. Plus, he compares the current backlash against AI to the upheaval that followed the introduction of sound in film.
