Indian authorities pushed back against Elon Musk’s claims that unnamed oligarchs were blocking Starlink from launching in the country, stating all three prospective operators remain broadly at the same stage of the regulatory process.

In a post on X, Musk accused “certain oligarchs” of trying to maintain a “monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people”, adding “you can guess who they are…” without naming the parties involved. “This is a crime against the people of India!” he wrote.

In a statement, India’s Ministry of Communications rejected the allegation, explaining its satellite communications framework is “fair and non-discriminatory”. It said assessments are currently underway for all licensed operators in India, with each required to meet security conditions before it can seek spectrum.

“At present, all the three entities are at broadly the same regulatory stage,” the ministry said, calling claims of discriminatory treatment “baseless and misconceived”.

The country’s telecoms sector is dominated by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio and Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel. Both operators, alongside Musk’s Starlink, have secured initial approvals for satellite services but are awaiting spectrum assignment and final clearances.

Starlink’s approval process has stretched over four years, with security requirements and spectrum access among the key issues under scrutiny. Musk has previously clashed with Ambani over India’s satellite spectrum allocation, although both Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel later struck agreements with the tech mogul to distribute Starlink services in the country.

The US satellite venture’s regulatory wait has also been marred by security concerns. Local media reports stated authorities recovered illegal Starlink equipment in two separate operations in late 2024, including a drug seizure in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and an army search in the northeastern state of Manipur.

This week, Musk also disputed any suggestion the equipment was connected to an active Starlink service in India, posting on X that its satellite beams were “turned off over India” and “never on in the first place”.

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US non-profit Common Sense Media’s Youth AI Safety Institute declared OpenAI’s ChatGPT for Teens an “unacceptable risk” and called for the company to halt access for users aged under 18-years until safeguards are independently tested and improved.

The institute tested more than 4,000 prompts across ChatGPT accounts registered to users aged 13 to 17 years-old before and after the teen-focused service launched in August.

Although some safeguards including the chatbot’s refusal to engage in explicit sexual roleplay functioned as expected, several other protections failed to operate.

“We call on OpenAI to pause marketing the product and to keep teens off of ChatGPT until it can offer a safe, developmentally appropriate experience,” the institute stated.

The biggest concern were parental notifications. In dedicated tests, parent-linked accounts generated no alerts during conversations involving high-risk topics including suicide, self-harm or eating disorders, including sessions lasting up to an hour. Broader testing triggered four notifications which only appeared on older accounts with weeks of sensitive history, with some arriving hours or days after crisis-level disclosures.

In addition, ChatGPT for Teens did not reliably refer high-risk accounts to a crisis hotline or professional help. The AI chatbot missed more than one-in-four situations where a crisis referral was warranted, falling below its 95% threshold in three-of-five severe harm categories.

The institute further claimed OpenAI’s age estimation technology repeatedly failed to shift adult-registered test accounts into the teen experience. It also found ChatGPT continued to use language which “simulates preferences and feelings, validates and engages, and continues engagement”, despite the AI company’s updated guidelines for those aged under 18-years.

Mental health
The AI player introduced parental controls and safety notifications to ChatGPT in 2025, stating its systems could identify potential signs of self-harm and alert parents in cases of acute distress.

ChatGPT For Teens emphasised learning, age-appropriate safeguards and parental controls designed to limit exposure to sensitive content.

OpenAI has been hit with a number of lawsuits from parents across the US alleging its chatbot encouraged at-risk teenagers to engage in self-harm, suicide or violent crimes.

In 2025, the US Federal Trade Commission reportedly launched an investigation into OpenAI, Meta Platforms and Character.AI over concerns chatbots were affecting children’s mental health.

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Elon Musk (pictured) ruled out Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) taking an operational role in Terafab, the billionaire’s advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility in the US state of Texas.

The tech mogul explained TSMC’s only potential involvement under discussion is leasing part of the planned site. “Maybe TSMC subleases part of the Terafab if they want, but nothing more than that,” he said in a post on X. He added: “No, we will build and run the fab. Let there be zero doubt about that.”

The comments clarify Musk’s earlier remarks on X that he was in discussions with TSMC and that “something may come of it”, which fuelled speculation that the Taiwanese chipmaker could become involved in operating the facility being developed by SpaceX and Tesla.

Meanwhile, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan told Bloomberg the company will continue working with Musk on Terafab, following questions over Intel’s role in the project after Musk disclosed discussions with TSMC. The chipmaker signed up as a development partner in April, working with SpaceX, Tesla and xAI on silicon fab technology for the project.

SpaceX and Tesla announced the Terafab project in August, stating it would combine chip manufacturing, advanced packaging and testing for logic and memory devices at a site projected to exceed 100 million square feet. The facility will produce chips for Musk’s companies, including processors for Tesla’s humanoid Optimus robots and self-driving Cybercabs, alongside high-power chips for SpaceX’s ambitious orbital AI data centres.

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Amazon committed more than $1 billion over the next five years to support communities hosting its data centres in a bid to address mounting opposition to AI infrastructure.

Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman announced the investment in an essay defending data centre development, arguing the buildout is needed for the US to remain competitive in the global AI race.

“Data centres bring considerable tax revenue, positive economic impact, large numbers of good jobs, education programs and other benefits to the communities where they’re built,” he wrote.

The new programme will fund education, workforce training, local hiring, energy upgrades, water and energy preservation projects and grants for local initiatives. Amazon added local communities will help determine how the funding is used.

The company said it expects to connect more than 300,000 students to free degree programmes in data centre communities over five years. It also plans to expand its network of training centres, alongside grants for energy efficiency upgrades targeting more than 300 schools and community buildings and over 30,000 homes.

Amazon also pledged to stop using nondisclosure agreements with government agencies involved in its data centre projects, explaining it would publish annual information on energy consumption, water use and efficiency.

Losing ticket
Data centre expansion has been facing growing backlash across the world over power demand, water consumption, land disruption, noise and environmental impact. In July, New York became the first US state to introduce a one-year moratorium on the construction of hyperscale facilities requiring 50 megawatts of power or more, citing environmental concerns, pressure on the energy grid and costs for residents.

Garman warned data centre moratoriums could leave the country behind in the global AI race. “If these measures are enacted, the US could be writing its own losing ticket to this race, and the consequences would last generations,” he said.

He also pushed back against concerns over water consumption, electricity prices and emissions from backup generators, describing several commonly cited claims as “myths”, “misinformation and outright lies”. He explained direct data centre water consumption accounts for about 0.5% of total US industrial water use and that backup generators remain idle 99.9% of the time.

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