Bill Gates, the philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft, has criticized the Trump administration for what he called “entirely preventable” humanitarian disasters stemming from the abrupt dismantling of U.S. international aid programs.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, Gates urged Washington to reverse course before the fallout becomes irreversible, warning that life-saving interventions are now at risk in vulnerable countries.

“The devastating effects of these cuts are entirely preventable — and it’s not too late to reverse them,” Gates wrote, sharing a post from journalist Sam Stein that included a harrowing message from an aid worker in Africa. According to the worker, vital HIV medications for children had not arrived in months, oxygen tubes for newborns were in short supply, and other essential treatments for sexually transmitted infections were running out.

“These are lives that can be saved,” Gates stressed.

The former tech executive’s criticism follows a series of sweeping changes to U.S. foreign assistance under President Donald Trump. Earlier this year, the Trump administration placed most staff members of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on administrative leave and announced that the agency would be absorbed into the State Department. By June 30, USAID — once a cornerstone of U.S. global engagement — was officially dissolved.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who now oversees foreign assistance programs, has insisted the U.S. is not abandoning its global role.

“Moving forward, our assistance will be targeted and time-limited,” he said, framing the restructuring as part of a pivot from traditional aid toward investment-led development.

But the shift has been widely condemned by humanitarian groups, economists, and even former government officials, who say the cuts have triggered a cascade of avoidable tragedies.

During a visit to Ethiopia last month, Gates addressed the cuts directly, stating: “A lot of cuts are being made in foreign aid programs,” he said during the visit, according to a transcript of the remarks. “Some of those cuts are being made so abruptly that there are complete interruptions in trials, or medicines are still sitting in warehouses and are not available. And these cuts are something that I think are a huge mistake.”

He added that the Gates Foundation, which has invested billions into global health, had long worked alongside USAID on key initiatives.

Among the most affected programs is the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which is now under State Department review. The cuts have already halted shipments of antiretrovirals, contraceptives, malnutrition treatments, and routine vaccines in multiple African countries. A report by Wired revealed that therapeutic food for starving children is stockpiled in warehouses, blocked by bureaucratic confusion and funding freezes.

In addition to ending support for PEPFAR, the Trump administration has reportedly withdrawn U.S. backing from Gavi, the international vaccine alliance co-founded by Gates in 1999. The move has alarmed public health officials who fear resurgent outbreaks of polio, measles, and other preventable diseases.

In place of long-standing assistance programs, the administration is offering a new model: trade over aid. The U.S. is actively pursuing bilateral resource-for-investment deals with countries such as Senegal, Mauritania, Gabon, and Liberia. These “minerals-for-security” partnerships are pitched as mutually beneficial, but critics argue they signal a retreat from humanitarian leadership and a pivot toward transactional diplomacy.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance, the U.S. has promised security and infrastructure investments in exchange for access to rare earth minerals used in tech manufacturing.

Economists and humanitarian leaders have been vocal in their condemnation. Peter Konyndyk, a former USAID official, warned that dismantling the agency cripples America’s disaster-response capacity and hands strategic leverage to geopolitical rivals like China and Russia. Others point to a broader erosion of U.S. soft power as foreign policy priorities shift toward economic nationalism.

Gates, who last year pledged to give away nearly all his personal wealth within two decades, has been increasingly outspoken on the issue of foreign aid. In May, the Gates Foundation warned that “governments around the world have announced tens of billions of dollars in cuts to aid funding,” with the U.S. leading the trend. The foundation has since redoubled its efforts in Africa, attempting to fill the widening gaps in care and infrastructure.

Trump’s approach to foreign policy — emphasizing self-reliance over assistance — has sparked outrage within global development circles. Critics say the changes could reverse decades of progress in combating infectious diseases, reducing child mortality, and improving access to basic health services. While the White House continues to insist the aid model is outdated, Gates and others argue that the price of inaction will be counted in lives lost.

Goldman Sachs has taken a decisive leap into the future of software development, announcing the deployment of an autonomous artificial intelligence engineer known as Devin, developed by AI startup Cognition, in a move that could reshape how Wall Street firms approach technical operations.

Goldman’s Chief Information Officer Marco Argenti confirmed to CNBC this week that the bank is now actively testing Devin, with plans to initially roll out hundreds of these AI agents to support its 12,000 human engineers—and possibly expand the use to thousands, depending on its success.

“We’re going to start augmenting our workforce with Devin, which is going to be like our new employee who’s going to start doing stuff on the behalf of our developers,” Argenti said.

From Assistants to Agents

Unlike traditional AI assistants that help summarize emails or search databases, Devin represents a new wave of agentic AI—programs that don’t just assist but actually perform multi-step software engineering tasks independently. The AI agent operates as a full-stack developer, capable of writing, debugging, testing, and deploying code with minimal human intervention.

Demo videos from Cognition last year showcased Devin autonomously handling assignments that would typically require a team of human engineers. These include upgrading internal software systems, migrating legacy code, and developing entire applications from scratch.

From Buzz to Buy-In

Just over a year ago, firms like JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley began cautiously introducing OpenAI-powered cognitive tools across their operations. Today, Goldman’s embrace of Devin reflects how fast the frontier has shifted from experimentation to integration.

At Goldman Sachs, Argenti noted that Devin’s productivity potential far exceeds the earlier generation of AI tools, claiming it could boost productivity by up to three or four times compared to previous systems.

“Initially, we will have hundreds of Devins, and that might go into the thousands,” he added, signaling that the firm sees this as a long-term investment in operational efficiency.

Goldman plans to deploy Devin to take over repetitive but essential coding tasks—like updating software to newer programming languages or refactoring legacy systems—allowing human engineers to focus on high-value, strategic innovation.

Wall Street Joins Silicon Valley in the AI Code Race

The adoption of AI coders isn’t unique to Goldman. Big Tech firms like Microsoft and Alphabet have reported that AI tools are already responsible for writing 30% of all code on major projects. At Salesforce, CEO Marc Benioff recently claimed AI now performs up to half of the company’s total work.

But Goldman Sachs’ deployment of Devin is especially symbolic: Wall Street’s most elite investment bank is no longer just investing in AI—it’s hiring it.

Supervised, But Autonomous

Despite its autonomous capabilities, Argenti emphasized that Devin will still operate under human oversight to ensure accuracy and avoid unintended errors.

“We see Devin not as a replacement, but as a multiplier,” said Argenti. “Our developers will now be managing AI counterparts, not competing with them.”

However, the expansion of AI “employees” raises broader questions about the future of work, especially for junior developers and operations staff whose tasks could increasingly be automated.

The move underscores a broader trend in finance and tech: AI is not just a tool—it’s becoming a co-worker.

With Devin, Goldman Sachs isn’t just testing the waters, it’s jumping headfirst into a future where Wall Street coders may be just as likely to review machine-generated code as they are to write it.

If successful, Devin’s rollout could inspire similar deployments across other major financial institutions, hastening the rise of AI-powered enterprise teams—and redefining what it means to “hire” in the age of intelligent machines.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon didn’t mince words during his speech at Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs, sounding alarm bells over Europe’s waning global economic clout and warning that complacency is setting in across global markets in the face of rising U.S. protectionism.

“You’re losing,” Dimon told officials in Dublin on Thursday, as reported by the Financial Times, pointing to Europe’s sharp economic divergence from the United States over the last decade and a half. “Europe has gone from 90% [of] U.S. GDP to 65% over 10 or 15 years. That’s not good.”

He attributed this decline to the continent’s failure to complete its single market ambitions and to consolidate its banking, fiscal, and capital market systems.

“We’ve got this huge, strong market and our companies are big and successful, have huge kinds of scale that are global. You have that, but less and less,” he said.

“Everything Should Be a Single Market”

Dimon emphasized the need for deeper European integration. Speaking to the Irish Examiner, he argued that “everything should be a single market” — including banking, regulation, transparency, and climate disclosure — if Europe hopes to compete with the scale and efficiency of the United States and China.

His remarks underscore long-standing frustrations among European policymakers who have repeatedly pushed for the bloc to eliminate internal trade barriers, harmonize corporate tax policies, and finalize banking and capital markets union — all of which remain incomplete decades after the eurozone’s formation.

Europe’s fragmented regulatory regimes, inconsistent tax codes, and sluggish policy execution have long been cited as obstacles to private investment. And in an increasingly multipolar world marked by geopolitical rivalry and economic nationalism, Europe’s vulnerabilities have become even more pronounced.

Dimon’s speech also touched on the continent’s loss of sovereignty in key sectors — from critical minerals to energy, satellite communications, and digital infrastructure — areas where China and the U.S. have made aggressive strategic plays.

Markets Shrug Off Trump’s Tariffs — For Now

Dimon also warned of another storm brewing: global financial markets appear dangerously indifferent to the inflationary risks posed by President Donald Trump’s new wave of tariffs, which include a 50% levy on Brazilian imports, a 50% tariff on copper, and a potential 200% duty on pharmaceuticals.

Despite the scale and scope of these trade barriers, U.S. stocks surged on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hitting record highs, driven by a bullish outlook on earnings and optimism around Federal Reserve rate cuts.

But Dimon is unconvinced.

“There is currently complacency in the markets,” he said, adding that investors have become “a little desensitized” to tariff announcements and are underestimating the threat they pose to inflation and interest rates.

According to Dimon, the chances of the Fed raising rates again are far greater than the market currently believes.

“The market is pricing a 20% chance [of a rate hike], I would price in a 40-50% chance. I would put that as a cause for concern,” he said.

His warning echoed earlier remarks from last month, where he cautioned that the U.S. economy is showing signs of softening and may face a downturn in the coming months, particularly if inflation flares up again.

Europe at a Crossroads

Although investor sentiment toward Europe has turned more positive in 2025 — thanks to Germany’s proposed fiscal stimulus, rising defense budgets, and a period of relative political stability — the region’s long-term competitiveness remains in question.

Private equity and institutional investors have begun eyeing value plays across the eurozone, viewing it as a hedge against the White House’s erratic policy swings. But as Dimon points out, temporary market performance is no substitute for structural reform.

The EU’s inability to finalize a tariff agreement with the U.S. further clouds the outlook. With Washington doubling down on protectionism and China investing heavily in industrial self-sufficiency, the EU now finds itself at a strategic inflection point — caught between two superpowers and at risk of becoming economically peripheral.

Dimon’s Verdict: Wake-Up Call for Brussels

Dimon’s comments are not merely a rebuke; they are a challenge to European leaders to act with urgency. For too long, Europe’s economic architecture has remained incomplete — unable to match the scale and agility of its global peers.

Now, with Trump’s tariffs threatening global trade flows, inflation risks returning to the spotlight, and the continent’s energy and tech dependencies more visible than ever, the time for half-measures may be over.

The message from Wall Street’s most powerful banker is unambiguous: Europe must finish what it started or risk becoming a geopolitical spectator in a world increasingly defined by speed, scale, and strategy.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, has stated that the sale of the country’s non-performing refineries, including those in Warri, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna, remains a possibility as the company undertakes a comprehensive review of its downstream operations.

Ojulari made this known in an interview with Bloomberg on the sidelines of the 9th Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) International Seminar in Vienna on Thursday. According to him, despite significant investments and technological interventions in the past, the refineries have proven more complicated to revive than previously anticipated.

“We’ve made quite a lot of investments in our refineries over the last several years and brought in a lot of technology. We’ve been challenged – some of those technologies have not worked as expected so far,” he said. “When you are refining a very old refinery that has been abandoned for some time, what we found is that they are a little bit more complicated.”

He added that a full review of NNPCL’s refining strategy would be concluded before the end of 2025 and that all options—including outright sale—remain on the table.

“Sale is not out of the question. All the options are on the table. But that decision will be based on the outcome of the review,” he added.

Mounting Pressure for Privatization

Ojulari’s comments come at a time when pressure is intensifying for the government to permanently exit refinery ownership. Earlier this month, the Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi-Kadiri, urged the Federal Government to fully privatize the state-owned refineries, which he described as “symbols of waste, inefficiency, and entrenched mismanagement.”

“Those four refineries are a pure drain on the Nigerian economy, and it is not fair to the Nigerian people,” Ajayi-Kadiri said. “The government should just sell these refineries. Give them to private sector people who will run them efficiently and be able to deliver. When something belongs to everybody, it belongs to nobody.”

His remarks echoed the widespread frustration over the decades of failed promises to revive the facilities. Over the years, the government has poured more than $3 billion into the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries without delivering any meaningful output.

In 2021 alone, the Port Harcourt refinery was awarded a $1.5 billion rehabilitation contract, while an additional $1.48 billion was earmarked for Warri and Kaduna refineries. That same year, NNPC confirmed it had spent over N100 billion on repairs, despite the fact that the refineries refined zero barrels of crude.

The refineries have remained inactive for years, even as Nigeria—Africa’s top oil producer—continues to rely almost entirely on imported petroleum products, spending billions in scarce foreign exchange and subjecting consumers to endless cycles of fuel scarcity.

“We are the sixth-largest producer of crude oil in the world, yet we suffer,” Ajayi-Kadiri said. “If you completely go private, it will be difficult for anyone to steal. It will be difficult to be unaccountable.”

New Approach to Pipeline Security

In the same interview, Ojulari highlighted the NNPCL’s revamped approach to oil infrastructure security. He said the company now works directly with host communities and local vigilante groups, in partnership with state security forces, to protect oil pipelines.

“It wasn’t a quick fix. It took several years to get the government’s policies aligned. But what we have now is more sustainable,” he said. “Security is now driven by the communities, far more than what we had before.”

Crude Supply to Dangote Refinery to Remain Commercial

Ojulari also addressed concerns about supplying crude to the Dangote Refinery, stressing that there would be no government compulsion in the arrangement.

“First of all, Dangote refinery is a commercial investment, not a national one. It has the flexibility to import crude for its survival and also has the flexibility to serve all customers,” he said. “So, if Nigeria is going to supply more crude to the Dangote refinery, it will be on a commercially willing buyer, willing seller basis—not because it is a policy.”

Nigeria Targets 1.9mbpd by End of 2025

Ojulari revealed that Nigeria is ramping up production efforts, with a goal to hit 2.06 million barrels per day by 2027. As of March, production stood at 1.56 million barrels per day; it now hovers around 1.63 million, including condensates. He projected an increase to 1.9 million barrels per day by the end of 2025.

On gas, he disclosed that Nigeria plans to grow output from 7 billion cubic feet to 10 billion cubic feet per day by 2027.

Why This Matters

The NNPCL’s strategic shift comes amid years of public disappointment with its downstream operations, especially the prolonged failure to revive Nigeria’s refineries. With the Dangote Refinery now coming on stream and the government advocating a market-led petroleum industry, many believe the time has come to cut losses and exit refinery ownership entirely.

Ojulari’s remarks signal that such a move may no longer be off the table—though Nigerians remain skeptical, having heard similar promises before. Whether the latest review leads to real reform or simply another cycle of bureaucracy remains to be seen.