President Donald Trump on Thursday said that trade negotiations with India were progressing positively and hinted at a potential visit to New Delhi in 2026 if invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The comments, made during a White House press briefing, come as both sides move to mend a relationship strained by tariffs, visa restrictions, and a long-standing dispute over India’s purchases of Russian oil.

Trump described Modi as “a great man” and “a friend,” recalling his last trip to India in 2020, when he was received by a cheering crowd of more than 100,000 at the “Namaste Trump” rally in Ahmedabad.

“India has largely stopped buying oil from Russia,” Trump said, adding that ties between the two nations were “stronger than ever.”

The remarks mark a notable shift in tone following months of friction between Washington and New Delhi. Analysts say Trump’s comments could signal an effort to rebuild trust after a difficult period in which the U.S. imposed steep tariffs on Indian goods and questioned India’s neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Over the past year, U.S.-India relations have faced turbulence due to what many observers described as “missing chemistry” between the two leaders, alongside contentious policy moves from Washington. India currently faces 50% tariffs on its exports to the U.S. — higher than the 47% duties applied to Chinese goods — and an additional $100,000 fee for H1B visa applicants, a change that directly impacts thousands of Indian tech professionals each year.

But perhaps the most contentious issue has been India’s oil trade with Russia.

The oil rift that tested a friendship

When the U.S. and its allies imposed sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine, India refused to join the Western embargo and instead ramped up imports of discounted Russian crude. The move was framed by New Delhi as an economic necessity — not a political statement. Indian officials repeatedly emphasized that the country’s energy security could not be compromised, especially given that more than 85% of its oil is imported.

Washington, however, saw India’s position as undercutting the effectiveness of Western sanctions. For months, American officials privately pressed New Delhi to reduce its dependence on Moscow’s crude, warning that continued purchases risked damaging its global standing.

Despite the pressure, India maintained that its engagement with Russia was within the limits of the G7’s price cap framework — which allows the purchase of Russian oil below $60 per barrel — and argued that it was helping stabilize global markets by keeping Russian crude flowing.

However, in recent weeks, New Delhi has quietly reduced its Russian oil purchases, citing U.S. sanctions targeting Russian oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil, which take effect on November 21. As a result, refiners in both India and China have begun to scale back their imports.

A Reuters report on Thursday said Russian oil in Asia is now trading at its steepest discount to Brent crude in a year, a sign that demand from its biggest Asian buyers — India and China — has weakened.

India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas did not immediately respond to media requests for comment, but traders familiar with the matter told Reuters that some Indian refiners have switched to Middle Eastern suppliers in anticipation of tighter enforcement of U.S. sanctions.

Still, experts say India’s exit from Russian oil is unlikely to be complete. “Over the long term, completely phasing out Russian oil isn’t realistic for India,” said Prateek Pandey, head of APAC oil and gas research at Rystad Energy. “As Russian crude becomes available at a sharper discount, New Delhi’s ‘economics first’ approach will be tested more than ever.”

A deal in sight

Against that backdrop, Trump’s remarks about “going well” trade talks suggest Washington is ready to ease its tone — and possibly its tariffs. “Negotiations between New Delhi and Washington D.C. are ongoing, and both sides appear optimistic about a trade deal being reached by the end of the year, possibly even in the next few weeks,” said Alexandra Hermann, head of Southeast Asia Research at Oxford Economics.

She noted that the proposed tariff reduction could lower India’s export duties to 20% from the current 50%, aligning the country more closely with regional peers such as Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines.

“However, the baseline tariff on India may not fall to Japan and South Korea’s level of 15% due to sticking points around purchases of Russian oil, agricultural imports, and India’s limited scope to commit to sizable investments in the U.S.,” Hermann said.

Trump’s comments come shortly after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Korea, where both leaders discussed the global trade slowdown and tariff reform. That meeting, observers say, may have encouraged the White House to recalibrate its trade approach with key Asian economies — particularly India, which Washington sees as a counterweight to Beijing’s regional influence.

Microsoft has formed a new division dedicated to developing artificial intelligence systems that can outperform humans in specific fields, starting with medical diagnostics, Reuters reports.

The new unit, called the MAI Superintelligence Team, represents one of the company’s most ambitious ventures into advanced AI — and a distinct philosophical turn from the broader race toward so-called artificial general intelligence (AGI).

Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft’s AI chief and co-founder of Google DeepMind, told Reuters that the initiative will focus on developing “humanist superintelligence” — AI that can solve practical, well-defined problems to directly benefit humanity, rather than pursuing endlessly self-improving machines.

“Humanism requires us to always ask the question: does this technology serve human interests?” Suleyman said.

The team will be led by Suleyman and Chief Scientist Karen Simonyan, both veterans of the AI research world. According to Suleyman, Microsoft plans to invest “a lot of money” in the project, though he declined to give figures or comment on whether it would offer the kind of nine-figure recruitment incentives Meta reportedly used earlier this year to lure top AI talent.

A Targeted Approach to Superintelligence

While competitors like Meta Platforms and the recently launched Safe Superintelligence Inc. are chasing technical leaps toward AGI, Microsoft’s effort diverges in scope and intent. Suleyman said the company is deliberately avoiding attempts to create autonomous, self-learning systems that evolve without human oversight.

“I doubt that autonomous, self-improving machines could be controlled,” he said, noting that the company’s approach is centered on safety, transparency, and measurable real-world applications.

Instead, the MAI Superintelligence Team will focus on “specialist models” designed to exceed human capabilities in narrow but high-impact domains — such as scientific research, molecular discovery, and healthcare. Suleyman cited AI that can develop new battery storage methods or design novel molecules, referencing DeepMind’s AlphaFold project, which revolutionized protein-structure prediction.

One of Microsoft’s first major goals is what Suleyman described as medical superintelligence — a system capable of diagnosing and predicting diseases with accuracy and insight beyond human doctors. He said the company has “a line of sight to medical superintelligence in the next two to three years,” contingent on breakthroughs in reasoning and model reliability.

Suleyman believes the impact of the idea could be transformative. “It will increase our life expectancy and give everybody more healthy years, because we’ll be able to detect preventable diseases much earlier,” he said.

Microsoft’s research arm has long invested in health-related AI, including tools for medical imaging, drug discovery, and clinical data management. The company’s Azure cloud platform also hosts a range of healthcare-focused AI services, many of which feed into its growing ecosystem of partnerships with hospitals, biotech firms, and universities.

The Philosophy Behind the Project

Suleyman’s emphasis on “humanist superintelligence” points to an emerging split within the AI research community — between those chasing the dream of a general, all-purpose AI and those advocating for more controlled, domain-specific progress.

He said AI that reasons through problems without human input is not the goal. Instead, Microsoft’s vision centers on building systems that enhance human expertise rather than replace it.

This approach echoes Suleyman’s long-standing caution about unregulated AI expansion. Even during his time at DeepMind, he argued that AI development should prioritize safety and social benefit over raw capability.

Microsoft’s announcement follows similar moves by Meta, which has been aggressively scaling its AI teams and reportedly offered up to $100 million in signing bonuses this year. Other companies, including Elon Musk’s xAI and Sam Altman’s OpenAI, are also pushing toward AI systems with increasingly advanced reasoning abilities.

But as the global race intensifies, skepticism persists about whether current technology is capable of producing such “superintelligent” models without major theoretical advances. Some experts argue that breakthroughs in reasoning, causality, and interpretability are still needed before AI can achieve reliable superhuman performance — even in narrow fields.

However, Microsoft’s new team appears determined to find out through this project. The company hopes to demonstrate that the road to superintelligence can still be paved with clear human benefit by focusing its resources on solving tangible problems like disease prevention.

Tesla’s board of directors will deliberate on whether to invest in Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, after shareholders expressed support for the proposal during Thursday’s annual meeting — the same event where they reapproved Musk’s $1 trillion pay package.

While a majority of shareholders voted in favor of investing in xAI, a significant portion abstained, leaving the decision as non-binding but symbolically powerful.

“Since this is an advisory vote, the board will examine the next steps in light of this level of shareholder support,” said Tesla’s General Counsel Brandon Ehrhart while announcing the results.

The potential partnership marks the latest chapter in Musk’s growing web of interlinked ventures, often referred to as “The Muskonomy.” The entrepreneur’s companies — Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and xAI — have increasingly shared talent, resources, and strategic objectives, blurring the boundaries between them.

Musk, who founded xAI in July 2023, has made no secret of his preference for tighter integration among his firms. Musk teased the idea earlier this year in a poll. He had asked, “Should Tesla invest $5B into @xAI, assuming the valuation is set by several credible outside investors?” Over 67% of responders voted yes. He, however, admitted that it’s up to shareholders.

xAI has quickly become one of Musk’s most valuable startups. The company, which created the Grok chatbot integrated into X, has raised more than $12 billion and reached a $50 billion valuation by mid-2024. It positions itself as a direct competitor to OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind, with a focus on developing AI systems that, in Musk’s words, “seek to understand the universe.”

An investment from Tesla would add another financial link to Musk’s growing corporate ecosystem. In March, xAI acquired X in an all-stock deal valuing the two companies at $80 billion and $33 billion, respectively. Earlier in the year, SpaceX also announced plans to invest $2 billion in xAI, bolstering its AI capabilities for autonomous systems and data analysis.

Some shareholders have embraced the idea of Tesla joining that circle. “Tesla has always been an AI company revolutionizing transportation, energy, and robotics through FSD and Optimus,” said Stephen Hawk, the investor who introduced the xAI investment proposal. “Let’s not outsource our destiny, but rather own it and maintain power, control, and safety.”

Still, concerns persist about potential conflicts of interest. Musk’s past deals have drawn scrutiny from regulators and investors alike. In 2016, Tesla’s $2.6 billion acquisition of SolarCity — a company founded by Musk’s cousin and chaired by Musk himself — led to a lawsuit alleging self-dealing and misuse of corporate funds. Although a Delaware court ultimately ruled in Musk’s favor in 2022, critics argue that SolarCity’s troubled integration delayed Tesla Energy’s profitability for years.

If Tesla’s board decides to proceed, the amount of the investment will be determined internally. Analysts say such a move could deepen Tesla’s AI expertise but also increase governance risks.

Tesla’s value is believed to increasingly rest on its software and AI prowess, not just cars, and a tie-up with xAI could strengthen its position, though it also raises old questions about Musk’s overlapping interests and where Tesla’s priorities truly lie.