Google’s quantum breakthrough leads to next challenge: bringing down costs
Predictions for Africa in 2025
Semafor Recommends
- Karissa Chen’s novel Homeseeking follows two star-crossed residents of Shanghai from their 1930s childhood through to the early 2000s.
- Season two of Keri Russell’s political drama The Diplomat delivers increasingly outlandish scenarios and a rewarding twist at the end.
- Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, about the Pan Am plane that exploded over Scotland in 1988, is “gripping, well crafted, and sensitively told.”
- Podcast The Town explores the transfer of influence from New York and Hollywood power players to tech platforms and media creators.
- Michael Hiltzik’s Big Science explores the expanding scale of science since the 1930s, when a young physicist invented the cyclotron.
Biden blocks sale of US Steel to Japan’s Nippon
His move comes after months of hardening rhetoric against the takeover.
Evelyn Hockstein/ReutersMike Johnson reelected as US House Speaker after last-minute vote changes
The Trump-backed Republican narrowly held on as speaker after overcoming a party revolt.
Nathan Howard/ReutersMeta will appoint Republican Joel Kaplan to lead global policy team, as Nick Clegg steps down
Big tech shifts right to meet Donald Trump’s Washington.
Manuel Orbegozo/ReutersDeadly New Orleans truck attack ‘inspired by ISIS’
The FBI said an Islamic State group flag was recovered from the attacker’s vehicle.
Geoff Burke-Imagn Images via ReutersAD
US-China tensions set to hit corporate boardrooms hard in 2025
Escalating tensions between Beijing and Washington have put multinational corporations on high alert at the start of the new year.
Florence Lo/ReutersCompetition for power will define the climate beat in 2025
US President-elect Donald Trump will encounter a very different energy market than his last time in office.
Brian Snyder/ReutersFrance to withdraw troops from Ivory Coast amid broader pull back from Africa
French forces have also left Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, and Niger in recent months after a series of military coups.
Marvellous Durowaiye/File Photo/Reuters
politics
Brian Snyder/Reuters
Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo/Reuters
Brian Snyder/File Photo/Reuters
Johnson won the speakership — but Trump won the day
House Republicans shockingly re-elected their leader on the first ballot after skeptics made clear their loyalty lies with the president-elect.
Brian Snyder/ReutersWhy Senate Republicans are down a seat
Republicans officially take over the Senate, with the exception of West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, who will take a few days to avoid a messy succession with Gov.-elect Patrick Morrisey.
Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo/ReutersTrump to host victory rally in DC, details remain unclear
It’s unlikely that Cabinet nominees will speak: They have largely avoided media appearances and have been directed to stop posting on social media.
Brian Snyder/File Photo/ReutersThe media competes for Washington
Politico’s once-dominant Playbook franchise, facing competition from the field of morning newsletters, is considering bringing UK editor Jack Blanchard over from London.
Where Democrats go from here
The race for DNC chair is split between those who expect the new GOP trifecta to fumble its power away to them, and those who think they can’t win the next election without serious changes.
Republicans’ real immigration dilemma: How big to go in Congress
Donald Trump is wading into a fight over highly-skilled worker visas, but there’s a bigger debate already underway.
Elon Musk’s influence on spending, immigration spans political spectrum
Some of the tech billionaire’s proposals drawing positive attention from key Democrat and leftist lawmakers.
Trump offers strategic endorsement of Mike Johnson
The House’s successful election of a speaker on Friday is critical to certifying the president-elect’s victory.
Former US President Jimmy Carter dies at 100
Tributes poured in for Carter, who was the longest living president in US history.
Trump weighs in on H-1B visas amid legal immigration fight
The president-elect for years has failed to give a clear answer on his stance on legal migration visas.
Trump’s second-term foreign policy approach is coming into focus
World leaders are preparing for greater US protectionism and unpredictability.
business
BYD’s new EV construction site in Brazil. Joa Souza/Reuters.
US crackdown leads Chinese firms to set their sights overseas
As President-elect Donald Trump’s tariffs loom over China’s flagging economy, companies are ramping up research and investment elsewhere.
BYD’s new EV construction site in Brazil. Joa Souza/Reuters.Tesla saw first annual decline in EV sales in more than a decade
Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company is projecting strong growth in 2025, but the results underscore the challenges ahead.
Why 2025 could be a pivotal year for cryptocurrencies
Donald Trump’s reelection has cemented cryptocurrency as a backbone of the global financial system.
Montenegro extradites crypto entrepreneur Do Kwon to US
The South Korean co-founder of Terraform Labs had been on the run following fraud allegations over the cryptocurrencies he developed.
India’s upbeat IPO market
The South Asian nation had almost as many public debuts in 2024 as the US and China combined.
technology
Google Quantum AI’s Hartmut Neven (L) and Anthony Megrant (R). Reed Albergotti/SemaforManuel Orbegozo/Reuters
Google’s quantum breakthrough leads to next challenge: bringing down costs
It’s part of the push to make quantum computing commercially useful, which takes brilliant theorists and hardcore engineers.
Google Quantum AI’s Hartmut Neven (L) and Anthony Megrant (R). Reed Albergotti/SemaforMeta will appoint Republican Joel Kaplan to lead global policy team, as Nick Clegg steps down
Big tech shifts right to meet Donald Trump’s Washington.
Manuel Orbegozo/ReutersAI brings better odds and betting concerns to sports gambling
Statistical analysis has long been a factor in predicting the outcomes of sporting events, but the rapid development of predictive AI brings a new granularity to the data.
Semafor Tech predictions that came true, and what we didn’t see coming, in 2024
As forecast, AI agents became a trendy topic but we missed the biggest story of the year.
New Congress members own more than $3.8 million in tech stocks
At a critical time for tech regulation, elected leaders collectively own portfolios worth millions in the industries they will oversee.
Japan antitrust watchdog expected to find Google operates illegal monopoly over search: Report
The anticipated ruling, Nikkei reported, comes months after a US court found Google’s search business was an illegal monopoly.
net zeroBrian Snyder/Reuters 
Chad Davis/Wikimedia Commons
Eva Manez/Reuters
Competition for electricity will define the climate beat in 2025
US President-elect Donald Trump will encounter a very different energy market than his last time in office.
Brian Snyder/ReutersAI data centers exacerbate US domestic power issues
The growing electricity demand from data centers is adding pressure on grids.
Chad Davis/Wikimedia CommonsExtreme weather cost the world billions in 2024
The hottest year on record also saw deadly floods in Africa and Europe, wildfires and hurricanes in North America, and heatwaves in Southeast Asia.
Eva Manez/Reutersgulf
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal in 2018. Faisal Al Nasser/Reuters.
Billionaires in the Gulf are on the rise
Markets lifted the net worth of billionaires while IPOs have created new ones.
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal in 2018. Faisal Al Nasser/Reuters.Abu Dhabi fund Mubadala led global sovereign wealth activity in 2024
Sovereign wealth investments focused on real estate, technology, financial services, private equity, and private credit.
Saudi Arabia launches largest regional salmon production center
The kingdom currently imports 23,000 tons of salmon per year, with the farm hoping to produce almost half of that number annually.
Qatari negotiators up efforts to reach Gaza deal as Trump pressure looms
The incoming US president earlier said there would be “hell to pay in the Middle East” if the hostages weren’t released by the time he takes office.
Abu Dhabi opens new visa program for yacht owners
Owners of 40-meter yachts will have the opportunity to obtain a 10-year golden visa in Abu Dhabi under a newly launched program.
africa
Joey Pfeifer/Semafor 
WFP/Abubakar Garelnabei/File Photo/Handout via Reuters
Predictions for Africa in 2025
Thought leaders told Semafor Africa what they expect to be the dominant issues across the continent this year.
Joey Pfeifer/Semafor Sudan capital receives first aid convoy since war began
The country is in the grip of the world’s worst hunger crisis but security threats have hampered the delivery of food.
WFP/Abubakar Garelnabei/File Photo/Handout via ReutersWho cares about African unicorns?
The fourth quarter has given us two new African unicorns — privately funded companies valued at more than a billion dollars: Nigeria’s Moniepoint and South Africa’s Tyme.
DR Congo lodges criminal complaint against Apple
DR Congo has filed a criminal complaint against Apple in France and Belgium over the tech giant’s alleged use of conflict minerals in its supply chain.
Kenya to review visa-free policy
Kenya’s government will review its visa-free policy after the country plummeted in an index that measures accessibility to visitors.
Nigeria’s Tinubu unveils “ambitious” budget
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu presented a 47.9 trillion naira ($30 billion) budget for 2025.
media
Mixed Signals: How dating apps survive in the age of digital exhaustion, with Tinder’s Melissa Hobley
How do dating apps stay relevant in this age of screen fatigue, and what can digital media learn from their strategies?
The things we got wrong in 2024
From Joe Biden’s mental acuity to the influence of X on the US presidential election.
Trump relitigates Russia ‘collusion’: Can you sue a narrative?
The president-elect has sued the Pulitzer Prize board in a case that clarifies the legacy of battles between president and press.
Analysis: Media’s return to the past
A deeply partisan media landscape is in many ways a return to business as usual.
Mixed Signals: What digital media’s most notorious scandal says about the business
On Monday, Carlos Watson, the founder of Ozy Media, was sentenced to nearly 10 years —116 months — in prison for fraud.
security
Flickr
L. G. Images/Flickr
SANA/Handout via Reuters
US Treasury says China-backed hackers breached its systems
Beijing said the claims were “groundless” and that it “has always opposed all forms of hacker attacks”.
FlickrChina unveils cutting-edge aerial and maritime military equipment
The new technology includes advanced fighter jets and a new amphibious assault ship.
L. G. Images/FlickrSyria’s political transition will take years, de facto leadership warns
The long transition timeline could exacerbate concern among Western officials over the rights of women and religious minorities.
SANA/Handout via ReutersAD