One month phone-free: Young Americans try digital detox

The PGA Tour is exploring pathways for players to return from LIV Golf, even as the embattled breakaway circuit scrambles to rebrand and retain its stars ahead of the rumored withdrawal of Saudi funding.

The golfing world was shaken last week by widespread reports that LIV only has support from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund guaranteed until the end of the season, after which the high-spending tour would face a major financial deficit if it continues.

That has prompted speculation that the entire circuit could soon collapse, leaving marquee players like Bryson DeChambeau plotting their futures.

Asked this week if the PGA tour had plans to welcome back defectors from rival LIV like DeChambeau, as it already has with five-time major winner Brooks Koepka, CEO Brian Rolapp said the PGA was "thinking about it."

"Brooks came back onto the tour because he made a phone call and said, 'Look, I'm out of my contract. I'm ready to come back,'" Rolapp told the Pat McAfee Show on Monday.

"So we're thinking about it. We'll react when we have an opportunity to react. 

He added: "I'm interested in whatever makes the PGA Tour better."

Whether DeChambeau would want to return to the PGA Tour is not clear, particularly given the punitive financial terms already imposed on the likes of Koepka.

DeChambeau's wildly popular YouTube channel regularly draws over two million views per video, and he could feasibly choose to only play golf's four major tournaments.

Even if LIV Golf continues next season, DeChambeau's contract will be up, and The Athletic on Monday reported that the two-time major winner is demanding "up to $500 million" to re-sign.

LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil, who last week told staff that the tour would continue "full throttle" this season, said the circuit would "probably" have to raise money going forward.

- 'OKGC' -

One option he has frequently touted is selling equity stakes in LIV's 13 teams.

On Tuesday, the tour announced it was rebranding the Smash GC team -- formerly captained by Koepka -- as "OKGC", inspired by its new, Oklahoma City-native captain Talor Gooch.

It has previously rebranded other teams to help attract fans, sponsors and potential investors from specific international markets, including "Korean Golf Club", and the all-South African "Southern Guards".

The "OKGC" rebranding is "a significant step in LIV Golf's strategy to connect its teams to home markets, creating stronger identities and deeper relationships with fans, partners and communities," said a tour statement.

"As the league continues to grow globally, OKGC highlights the growing impact of localized, domestic team identities within the LIV Golf franchise model," said the statement.

Still, selling team stakes alone would not begin to plug the estimated $5 billion that Saudi backers have spent on the four-year-old LIV Golf tour to date.

In January, Bloomberg reported that the league was targeting valuations up to $300 million per team. There is currently no public valuation of what the teams are worth.

O'Neil has also spoken about other strategies like partnering with established national opens, and redoubling LIV's focus on markets where it has drawn record crowds to events, such as Australia and South Africa.

And in the United States, the tour still retains the support of at least one powerful fan.

The venue for LIV's next tournament?

The US president's own Trump National Golf Club, just outside Washington DC.

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(The Center Square) – Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday that could reshape the state’s representation in the U.S. House of Representatives and majority control coming out of the 2026 midterms.

The Associated Press called the race at 8:49 p.m., with unofficial results showing 50.3% voting in favor and 49.7% opposed. With 89% of votes tallied at time of publication, yes votes led 51.3%-48.7% from more than 2.8 million cast.

The outcome – if able to survive the Virginia Supreme Court or higher – flipped the projected net gains and losses of the two major parties in the nationwide map redrawing tussle, Democrats going from down three to up one. Briefs in litigation are due to the Virginia Supreme Court on Thursday.

Control of the U.S. House remains closely divided. With three new resignations and two oaths of offices taken since Tuesday of last week, there are four vacancies, 217 Republicans, 213 Democrats and one independent caucusing with his former colleagues in the Republican Party.

On Election Day 2024, Republicans won a 220-215 majority.

The state has six Democrats and five Republicans in the House, and the proposed map would shift that to as many as a 10-1 Democratic-leaning advantage.

Voters were asked to decide yes or no on a measure allowing the General Assembly to temporarily redraw congressional districts before the next census.

According to the Department of Elections, state law is, “Virginia’s 11 congressional districts are drawn once every 10 years by the Virginia Redistricting Commission, a legislative body made up of eight legislators and eight citizens, with an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. Virginia’s congressional districts were last redrawn in 2021 and will next be redrawn in 2031.”

The ballot question asked voters: “Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”

With the amendment approved, the General Assembly – where Democrats hold majorities in both chambers and the governor’s office – can move forward with a congressional map already passed and currently facing legal challenges. The redistricting commission would resume responsibility for drawing maps in 2031.

If the amendment had failed, Virginia would have continued using its current congressional districts drawn after the 2020 census under the state’s redistricting commission process.

According to campaign finance records, a combined $111 million was spent on the amendment, including more than $22 million in opposition. That total far exceeds the $2.7 million spent during Virginia’s last redistricting amendment, which voters approved 65.7%-34.3%.

The results again showed Virginia’s regional divide, with Democratic strength concentrated in Northern Virginia and urban centers, while Republican support remained dominant in rural and western parts of the state. Competitive jurisdictions such as Virginia Beach and Chesterfield County again emerged as key battlegrounds.

Virginia’s results may not be finalized Tuesday night. All mailed ballots must be received by Friday at noon in the general registrar’s office.

New maps are in play for the 2026 elections in California, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas. Litigation has also led to changes in Utah and remains ongoing in Georgia, Louisiana and New York.

In addition to Virginia, Florida next week begins a special session on the matter. Neighboring Maryland’s bid died last week.

California has the potential to flip five seats to Democrats for a 48-4 representation for the party and Utah one to Democrats cutting into Republicans’ 4-0 representation. For Republicans, Missouri (to 7-1) and North Carolina (to 11-3) could gain one seat each; Ohio two (to 12-3); and Texas five (to 30-7).

A blue-eyed humanoid robot carefully opens a box and places a tool inside as a crowd of visitors watch the demonstration of "physical AI" skills at a major industrial trade fair in Germany.

Made by German startup Agile Robots, it was among a host of robots showing off their moves at the event, underlining hopes of a coming AI-powered boost for Germany's long-struggling factories.

Embedding the technology into industrial processes, where Europe already has deep expertise, is seen as a key route for the continent to catch up in the artificial intelligence race against the United States and China.

Such AI-boosted robots make it possible to "actually solve industrial problems", Rory Sexton, chief executive of Agile Robots, told AFP in an interview.

From next year, he added, the company plans to begin fitting out German factories, particularly those in the automotive industry, a crucial sector for Europe's biggest economy.

Artificial intelligence used for real-world, hands-on tasks -- so-called physical AI -- was in focus this year in Hanover at the world's biggest industrial technology fair, which brings together more than 3,000 exhibitors.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited the Agile Robots stand, where he talked to Zhaopeng Chen, the Chinese founder of the Munich-based startup.

In a speech at the fair, Merz threw his support behind the drive to encourage German manufacturers, many of whom still rely on traditional techniques, to step up their use of AI.

AI should be "embedded in the key sectors of our industry and especially" in small- and medium-sized firms, the backbone of the German economy, to create "industrial added value and high-quality jobs", he said.

- 'Dark side' of AI -

But, like in many other industries, German manufacturers are playing catch-up against China when it comes to making humanoid robots.

Merz witnessed China's progress in the field first-hand during a visit to the country in February, when he saw displays of Chinese-made robots performing kung fu and boxing.

The maker of those robots, Unitree, and other Chinese manufacturers were also out in force at the Hanover fair, as they have been in previous years.

Still, Sexton of Agile Robots insisted that "we'll soon be able to do what (Unitree) are doing", and shrugged off such impressive public displays.

Rather than dancing or martial arts, Agile Robots is focused on "value-added tasks for industry", such as electronic wiring in cars or phone assembly, he said.

He emphasised that Germany offers an "ecosystem of suppliers" and "very strong expertise in mechanical engineering and automation", both crucial in the race for AI.

Companies are also hopeful about the technological developments -- 58 percent of industrial firms surveyed by German digital business association Bitkom believe humanoid robots could help plug skilled labour shortages.

The country also has deep pools of industrial data to draw on from its factories, according to Antonio Krueger, head of the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI).

"This is something we have at a level of quality far superior to the United States or China," he told AFP.

But, critics say, the use of this data is still often too piecemeal and isolated, with no overarching strategy to bring it together cohesively.

Not everyone in Hanover was convinced that AI was the solution to the woes of Germany manufacturers, who have long been struggling with issues from high energy costs to weak demand.

Jochen Heinz, an executive from German factory machinery maker SW Machines, cautioned that AI can sometimes make mistakes by, for instance, giving misleading instructions for repairs or incorrectly claiming to have detected problems.

"With AI, I also see the dark side of the force," he said.

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The Maoist rebellion that once held sway over nearly a third of India is being bulldozed into submission in its final forest fortress.

Thick clouds of red dust billow skyward as earthmovers cut roads through the Abujhmad hills of India's central Chhattisgarh state, the last holdout of a nearly 60-year insurgency that has cost 12,000 lives.

Security forces are strangling the final remnants of the revolt with a network of 450 fortified bases and surveillance hubs linked by roads driven deep into the dense forest. 

New Delhi said last month that it had effectively defeated the insurgency, which at its height held a large swathe of northern and central India with up to 20,000 fighters, after villagers rose up against their feudal lords.

"Roads were made and security forces opened camps inside the jungles," local police chief Sundarraj P, who spent years fighting the insurgency, told AFP.

The last rebels, who had been forced into a pocket of hilly jungle about twice the size of London, said they were fighting for the rights of the marginalised Indigenous people in the mineral-rich region.

Once all but inaccessible, Abujhmad has been put on what Home Minister Amit Shah calls "the path of development".

It used to take three days to get to the nearest town of Narayanpur and back. Now "we take the morning bus, and return by the evening one", said 60-year-old farmer Dasrath Netam, from the forest village of Mohandi.

But many locals worry that the roads may also open up the iron-rich hills to massively increased mining.

- 'All out on mining' -

"Big roads are being constructed to give a message that the (security) forces can move anywhere quickly," said Manish Kunjam, a former Chhattisgarh lawmaker and tribal rights activist.

"But they are also being built keeping in mind the mines," he insisted.

Extraction began nearly 60 years ago, but the insurgency meant some of India's highest-grade iron ore was left untouched.

Hundreds of trucks laden with ore now rumble from a newly operational mine on the forest fringes.

Leaders from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which controls the state, say that is not what the new roads are about.

"There is nothing here that is about minerals," Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma told AFP, adding the mining has been going on "for the last 50 years".

But court records and corporate filings show significant expansion of the mining footprint.

At least two mines on the edge of Abujhmad, stalled for years by Maoist violence, have become operational over the past five years.

Extraction began at Amdai Ghat around 2021, and at Rowghat in 2023.

More than 10 million tons of additional production has been approved in other existing mines in the last three years, stretching across roughly 900 hectares of forest.

"I really think the government is going to go all out on mining," said Shalini Gera, a lawyer who has worked with tribal communities in Bastar.

"This is the only development that they have in mind."

For the region's marginalised tribes, who are almost entirely dependent on the forest for their livelihoods, it is an alarming prospect -- even if most say the Maoists did them no favours either.

"We are glad they are finally gone, because they ruled by fear," said 25-year-old Sonuram Gutta, who said he was conscripted into the insurgency, but was allowed to leave after a few years of fighting.

"But mining will make everything around us dirty. Our forefathers taught us to protect the forest; it is everything to us."

- 'See the change' -

In the village of Tarlaguda, once a rebel hotbed, hopes are high that peace will bring change.

"We are 30 years behind the rest of the world because of the Maoists," said Umesh Sundam, whose brother was shot dead by the security forces, wrongly labelled as an insurgent.

"They would not let any government schemes come to the village -- you can see the change finally," he added, standing beside a newly-erected phone mast and a granary being built for a government food aid programme.

But he worries that few locals have formal land titles even though the tribes are recognised by India's constitution.

"It is ironic, but the issues that the Maoists claimed to fight for -- our forest and land -- will probably become even more relevant in the future," he said.

"If our land is taken over by some industry, there is no way for us to even seek compensation."

Those who fought to crush the rebellion caution that the government must learn the lessons of the past.

"The insurgency started because of tribal exploitation -- by landlords, government agencies, forest officials and police," said Chhattisgarh's former police chief, DM Awasthi.

He warned that officials had to be transparent and empower locals.

At a government training camp, former Maoist foot soldiers were learning new trades.

Sukram Ursa, 21, who surrendered in December, said he had swapped his assault rifle for a government-gifted mobile phone.

"I held a phone for the first time in my life last month," he said, scrolling through social media videos on a break from learning to weld.

Like other former guerrillas, he said he had renounced violence.

"We will fight for our rights within the framework of the Indian constitution."

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Vast tracts of Indonesian rainforest home to endangered orangutans have been cleared for plantations supplying a maker of "carbon-neutral" packaging, an investigation by AFP and The Gecko Project has found.

Pulp and paper firm Asia Symbol has a no-deforestation policy and supplied major companies like Haleon, the British pharmaceutical giant behind household brands Panadol and Sensodyne.

But wood from plantations where tens of thousands of hectares of forest were felled -- including orangutan habitat -- was processed at an Indonesian mill supplying Asia Symbol.

Haleon said it was cutting ties with Asia Symbol after the investigation, which used satellite data, audit documents, trade records and ship-tracking to trace wood grown on cleared rainforest in Borneo to Asia Symbol's supply chain.

Experts and locals blame the plantations that supplied Asia Symbol for destroying their livelihoods and causing flooding, wildlife loss and land disputes.

"My eyes well up remembering how it was," local village leader Agau told AFP, describing the devastation in Central Kalimantan, one of the most biodiverse places on the planet.

The investigation also raises questions about Asia Symbol's parent company, Singapore-headquartered conglomerate Royal Golden Eagle (RGE).

It committed to a deforestation-free supply chain in 2015 and secured a $1 billion "sustainability-linked loan" in 2024. 

It is currently trying to win back Forest Stewardship Council certification designating its products as responsibly sourced.

But the investigation found that its Asia Symbol affiliate received pulp from a mill fed by plantations that cleared nearly 30,000 hectares of forest between 2016 and 2024 -- an area almost three times the size of Paris.

"The findings of this investigation indicate that RGE is still very much in the business of deforestation," said Robin Averbeck, forest programme director at Rainforest Action Network.

- Carbon-neutral packaging -

Asia Symbol had previously pledged to stop using wood from the Industrial Forest Plantation (IFP) "indefinitely". 

But the investigation traced timber from IFP and other plantations to the Phoenix Resources International (PRI) mill, which sent pulp to Asia Symbol in China.

Asia Symbol makes "carbon-neutral" packaging there that Haleon used for ibuprofen boxes.

Asia Symbol told AFP it is committed to its no-deforestation policy, which vows not to use wood from natural forests or from those converted to plantations. 

It said it is working to strengthen oversight but that its supply chain's complexity "creates real due diligence challenges".

The deforestation is not illegal -- the plantations supplying the PRI mill have Indonesian government permits.

But the consequences for locals and the environment have been grave.

Much of the forest that once grew across the more than 100,000 hectares of IFP's concession has been cleared to plant fast-growing acacia and eucalyptus.

"It's hard to find anything like it used to be," said Agau, 69, the secretary of Humbang Raya village, which is inside the IFP plantation. 

Like many people in Indonesia, he uses only one name. 

He said animals and birds had disappeared and locals who relied on the forest have been forced to leave to find work.

When AFP reporters visited, felling was underway. On one side of a road was a biodiverse thicket of trees strung with vines. On the other, a ravaged landscape of ashy brown mud strewn with branches.

- 'It breaks our hearts' -

Some 30 kilometres away in Sei Gawing, also inside the concession, locals said they fear drinking water from the nearby river, worried about run-off from the plantation.

Floods are more frequent and severe because tree cover that absorbed rainwater is gone.

"In the last few years there has been flooding that, unlike before, has reached people's homes," village head Dodie Kristiawan said.

Indonesia's government has acknowledged that deforestation worsened floods and landslides that killed over 1,000 people in Sumatra last year, but it has done little to halt forest loss elsewhere.

Ika Magdalena, a pregnant mother-of-three, said the land she once farmed was now off-limits inside IFP's concession.

Promised compensation never arrived, and she now runs a small snack stall to make ends meet.

"They've already damaged our crops, and they don't want to take responsibility," she said.

"It breaks our hearts, but they just stay silent."

IFP did not respond to requests for comment sent by email and post.

Agustan Saining, head of Central Kalimantan's forestry agency, said IFP "has never committed any violations in the forestry sector" and contributes taxes and reforestation funds.

Locals and campaigners say few benefits from the concessions trickle down, with jobs going mostly to outsiders.

Communities lose "sources of livelihood, both food and income, and there are no alternative options," said Bayu Herinata of Central Kalimantan WALHI environmental group.

- 'Ceremonial cannons' -

Asia Symbol confirmed that the PRI mill had supplied it since January 2025 and that it has "commenced a focused review of PRI-related sourcing."

That includes "immediate adoption of global no-deforestation commitments, including potential corrective and remedy actions." 

The PRI mill did not respond to requests for comment.

Asia Symbol's parent company RGE has been linked to deforestation and land conflict before.

Last year its attempts to regain Forest Stewardship Council certification stalled over allegations that staff from one of its affiliates attacked an Indigenous community.

And in 2023 Asia Symbol acknowledged deforestation in two concessions in its supply chain and pledged to stop using their products.

But that did not happen.

AFP and investigative newsroom The Gecko Project focused on the PRI mill to trace Asia Symbol's sourcing.

Government audit reports showed the mill received timber from 12 concessions, and satellite imagery analysis showed significant deforestation in at least four.

Records from trade data aggregator Import Genius showed PRI was sending much of its pulp to two ports in China, Rugao and Rizhao, where Asia Symbol's Jiangsu and Shandong facilities are located.

Ship-tracking and trade data showed the cargo ship MV Sailboard arrived in Rugao from Tarakan in Borneo last June, carrying pulp.

It was received with fanfare as Rugao's first "direct shipside pick-up" -- an expedited customs process -- meriting a welcome committee and "ceremonial cannons", local reports said.

A video posted on Chinese TikTok Douyin shows the ship's name and the initials "PRI" stamped on its cargo as officials welcomed the cargo in front of a banner bearing Asia Symbol's logo.

- 'Greenwashing' -

RGE makes much of its sustainability commitments.

"We're proud to say that our whole supply chain is 100 percent deforestation free," its managing director Anderson Tanoto said in 2024.

"The power of integration is that you have accountability of the value chain all the way to where the growers are," he added.

While making paper requires timber, FSC certification includes commitments to protect old-growth forests and respect the rights of local communities.

FSC said its suspension of RGE remains in place.

"There have been numerous breaches," said Grant Rosoman, senior forest campaign advisor for Greenpeace International, who has followed RGE's operations.

"Their commitments are nothing more than greenwashing to convince their buyers that they are cleaning up their act."

- 'Our only hope' -

Sustainability pledges can be lucrative for companies like RGE.

"RGE has managed to access billions of dollars in green credit from banks including Mitsubishi UFJ by its public commitments to eliminate deforestation from its supply chains," Rainforest Action Network's Averbeck said.

Asia Symbol said its "carbon-neutral" products for Haleon did not use pulp from the PRI mill, but failed to explain how it separates pulp from different sources.

UK-based Haleon said its own investigations found no evidence deforestation-linked material entered its supply chain, but that it was "nevertheless very concerned by the allegations raised against Asia Symbol and upstream plantation companies."

"We have therefore asked our suppliers to ensure that any material supplied to Haleon is not sourced from Asia Symbol" or plantation companies "associated with risk of deforestation", it said.

Indonesia has some of the world's highest tree cover loss, according to Global Forest Watch, increasing the risk of natural disasters as well as threatening endangered species and climate goals.

But the perceived short-term economic benefits of clearing forests often outweigh those concerns.

In Humbang Raya, Agau wants the government to stop issuing permits to companies that cut down forests, insisting safeguards and promises to restore them are worthless.

"You plant one tree, a million are lost. It's not balanced," he said.

"Our lives, our livelihood here, depend on the forest that we have. That is our only hope."

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Getting around without Google Maps. No longer scrolling Instagram at the bus stop. Ditching your headphones to hear the birds sing.

In March, a group of 20- and 30-somethings in the US capital swapped their smartphones for basic flip phones and embarked on a one-month digital detox, part of an emerging movement of young Americans seeking to break free from the harmful effects of social media.

"I was waiting for a bus, and I didn't know when it would come," recalled Jay West, 29, who took part in the Month Offline challenge organized by a small startup with support from a local community group.

Old habits die hard, and West, who works as a data analyst for Washington's metro system, said he would often find himself reaching into his pocket for his cell phone, only to realize there was nothing on it. 

But in the end, he said, it was liberating.

"I was bored sometimes, and that's okay," West recalled one recent evening at a city community garden where detox participants met to share their struggles and joys of disconnecting. "It's okay to be bored."

Sitting beside him was Rachael Schultz, 35, who had to ask strangers on bicycles for directions. There was also Lizzie Benjamin, 25, who dug out old CDs her father had burned so she could listen to music without Spotify.

Before the detox, Bobby Loomis, 25, who works in real estate, struggled to watch even a single episode of a TV series without checking his phone.

But now, without his headphones, he enjoyed listening to birds sing as he took walks around Washington. And when the detox ended, his daily screen time dropped from six to four hours, roughly in line with the average for American adults.

— 'Enriching, communal, social life' —

Scientists have long been sounding the alarm, warning that cell phone addiction is associated with shortened attention spans, sleep problems and anxiety.

In a landmark ruling in late March, a California court ruled Instagram and YouTube are liable for the addictive nature of their platforms.

An increasing number of young Americans are finally taking note. According to a YouGov poll conducted last year, more than two-thirds of people aged 18 to 29 would like to reduce their screen time.

And new tools are available to make that happen: digital detox apps, phone-blocking gadgets, and groups, such as the one in Washington, that facilitate month-long detoxes. On university campuses, weeks-long social media diets have become popular and screen-free evenings among friends have become a thing in big cities.

Going smartphone-free even for a couple of weeks leads to "better well-being and improved ability to sustain attention," said Kostadin Kushlev, a psychology researcher at Georgetown University.

Preliminary studies suggest those effects persist over time, he added.

Josh Morin, one of the organizers of the detox programs in Washington, believes that simply ditching the phone is not enough and that an appealing alternative is vital. His program involves a weekly discussion session for participants held at a karaoke bar in a trendy neighborhood of the US capital.

"In order to actually break that, you have to provide an enriching, communal, social life," said Morin.

— 'At the beginning of something' —

The Month Offline initiative was launched a year ago by a company called Dumb.co. It costs about $100 per person to participate and the fee covers the loan of a flip phone pre-loaded with a handful of essential tools, such as phone calls, texts and Uber, that are synchronized with the user's smartphone.

So far the startup has been making baby steps, hoping to surpass the 1,000-user mark in May, but experts see a bigger trend.

Graham Burnett, a history professor at Princeton University, sees "the dawning of an authentic movement," similar to the birth of the environmental movement in the 1960s, which led to landmark environmental protections.

Kendall Schrohe, 23, who works at a digital privacy watchdog, completed the monthly detox in Washington in January.

She can now navigate her neighborhood without relying on Google Maps, has deleted Instagram and launched her own digital sobriety group.

"I take an optimistic lens, and I feel like we're really at the beginning of something," she said.

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Questions about Tesla's progress towards achieving fully autonomous driving at scale are expected to figure prominently when the company reports results Wednesday.

When last releasing earnings in January, Elon Musk's highflying electric vehicle company announced plans to spend more than $20 billion on growth ventures such as autonomous driving, artificial intelligence and robotics.

Analysts are expected to scrutinize this plan on Tesla's conference call, particularly given the middling outlook for EVs after increased car sales boosted earnings a few years ago.

Musk has said the investments are needed to enable an "era of abundance," statements that have helped Tesla achieve market capitalization of around $1.5 trillion despite controversies tied to the billionaire over his far-right political activism and other matters.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley pointed out that Tesla was poised to pass 10 million miles driven on its "FSD" driver-assistance program. 

"This symbolic milestone reinforces Tesla's autonomy lead, but with capex doubling and (free cash flow) turning negative, investors will need clearer evidence that unsupervised autonomy is around the corner to support the stock's valuation," said the Morgan Stanley report. It also noted that progress on Tesla's robotaxi rollout had slowed after the initial launch in Austin last year.

Although Musk's leadership at Tesla and his other companies has made him the world's richest person, he has regularly overstated the nearness of fully autonomous driving over the years.

CFRA Research analyst Garrett Nelson pointed to investor "heartburn" at Tesla's spending plans, questioning whether some of the ventures should be pared back in light of economic uncertainty tied to spiking oil prices.

"What worries investors is the fact that the company hasn't quantified the expected returns on these projects, raising concerns that Tesla is potentially acting recklessly," said Nelson, adding that more disclosure about investment return would reassure investors. 

- Modestly higher auto sales -

Analysts have projected Tesla will report modestly higher profits on a 10.8 percent rise in revenues to $21.4 billion compared with the year-ago period, when sales were dented by criticism of Musk's White House work on behalf of US President Donald Trump.

Earlier this month, Tesla reported a 6.3 percent increase in first quarter auto deliveries to 358,023.

Wall Street analysts are deeply divided on the company, with JPMorgan Chase viewing Tesla as significantly overvalued. 

An April 6 JPMorgan note criticized Tesla's hefty capital budget and pointed to a surplus in Tesla vehicle production in the first quarter compared with deliveries, "signifying a larger inventory build than in any prior quarter."

On the other side, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives has set a target price of $600 on Tesla shares, an increase of more than 55 percent from Tuesday's level.

Ives expects Wednesday's conference call to yield more clarity on the company's AI investments, as well as autonomous driving ventures such as FSD and the robotaxi.

"We believe the Street is at a crossroads with Tesla as the bulls and bears debate how quickly the AI era will take shape over the coming year," Ives said, adding that growth in FSD will "change the financial model/margins for Tesla looking ahead."

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Italy has summoned Russia's ambassador in Rome after a Russian television presenter delivered a stream of insults against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Tuesday.

According to Italian media, presenter Vladimir Solovyov said in Italian on Russian television that Meloni was a "disgrace to the human race", a "wild beast", a "certified idiot", and a "nasty little woman".

Then, switching to Russian, he said that "this Meloni is a fascist creature who betrayed her electors," adding that "she even betrayed (US President Donald) Trump."

Tajani posted on X that he had "summoned the Russian Ambassador, Alexey Paramonov, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to formally protest the extremely serious and offensive remarks made by TV host Vladimir Solovyov on Russian television against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni".

Even opposition parties in Italy condemned the comments from the Russian presenter.

Later, Meloni posted on X that "these caricatures certainly won't make us change course," adding that "our compass remains one and only: the interest of Italy. And we will continue to follow it with pride, much to the chagrin of propagandists far and wide."

Relations between Rome and Moscow have been tense because of Meloni's strong support for Ukraine, while her once friendly relations with Trump have worsened since she defended Pope Leo XIV against the US president's verbal attacks.

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The future of Apple is being entrusted to a company veteran said to combine hardware brilliance with "the soul of an innovator."

John Ternus, 50, will take over as Apple chief executive in September, with Tim Cook becoming executive chairman of the iPhone maker's board of directors.

"John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor," Cook said when his successor was revealed.

"He is without question the right person to lead Apple into the future."

That claim was the subject of debate on Tuesday, with some wondering whether software skills were more vital to Apple's success given how artificial intelligence is shaking up the tech world.

"Despite popular opinion, I think hardware will be critical to AI uptake," said Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi.

"Hardware, especially silicon (chips), is what brings AI to life."

- Calm continuity -

Ternus joined Apple's design team in 2001, working his way up to senior vice president of hardware engineering, reporting to Cook.

Ternus leads the engineering teams for Apple's product line-up, including the iPhones that account for most of its revenue and Mac computers with performance well-suited for AI tasks.

He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and worked as an engineer at Virtual Research Systems prior to joining Apple.

Ternus is credited with leading a drive to make Apple products more durable, reliable and resilient, as well as innovative designs that reduced their carbon footprint.

Picking Ternus as its next chief signals Apple prioritizing market-calming corporate continuity over radical change, according to Francisco Jeronimo, vice president of client devices at market analytics firm IDC.

"Few people inside or outside the company understand Apple's product architecture as well as he does," Jeronimo said.

"The short and medium-term business is probably in safe hands."

Apple has an enormous base of loyal users and improved models of iPhone, Mac, and wearables in the pipeline that promise to bode well for its fortunes in the near future, Jeronimo reasoned.

"The harder question is what comes next, and specifically how Apple will pivot to new growth engines when the steam from the iPhone begins to fade," Jeronimo said.

"The next significant wave of consumer technology is not about the phone; it is about AI."

That is where strategic pressure on Ternus will be most acute, according to the analyst.

- Channeling Steve Jobs? -

A big question will be whether Ternus has "the appetite for the kind of bold, occasionally uncomfortable decisions" that defining an Apple AI platform will require.

Legendary Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was known for brutal honesty and unyielding perfectionism that led to culture-changing devices.

Ternus has a reputation as a decisive leader, where Cook was known for shepherding teams to collaborative conclusions.

"Ternus brings a fresh, younger view of the world and clearly an appetite for success," analyst Milanesi said.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives expects Apple's annual developers conference in June to put Ternus and his vision for the company center stage.

"In this AI World Apple has more cash, consumers, and brand recognition than any company in the world -- but now is the time to flex the muscles and go on the offensive instead of the defensive," Ives wrote in a note to investors.

"Ternus is not going to take over the CEO baton with a treadmill approach in our view and this is a good thing."

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SpaceX on Tuesday announced a partnership with AI coding company Cursor, saying the alliance comes with an option to buy the startup for $60 billion later this year.

The move by Elon Musk's rocket and satellite company comes as it prepares to become publicly traded, and shortly after it took over the billionaire's artificial intelligence outfit xAI.

Cursor, founded in 2022 and based in San Francisco, specializes in AI for creating software code, particularly for business uses.

"SpaceXAI and @cursor_ai are now working closely together to create the world's best coding and knowledge work AI," the company said in a post on X.

Combining Cursor's software and product expertise with SpaceX's "Colossus" AI training supercomputer will enable the company "to build the world's most useful models," it said.

Musk announced in February that SpaceX would acquire xAI, a step in his plan to launch solar-powered, satellite-based data centers to run future AI models.

SpaceX has set the pace in the space launch market, offering reusable rockets that vastly reduce the cost of putting satellites into orbit and itself owning the largest satellite constellation, Starlink.

The company is set for a stock market listing this year widely expected to be the biggest in history, with media reports pointing to an initial public offering (IPO) as early as June.

Musk called SpaceX's absorption of xAI "not just the next chapter, but the next book" for the companies.

"Global electricity demand for AI simply cannot be met with terrestrial solutions... The only logical solution therefore is to transport these resource-intensive efforts to a location with vast power and space," Musk wrote when his companies were merged.

The project fits into Musk's long-term ambition to build colonies on the Moon and Mars and is "a first step towards becoming a Kardashev II-level civilization," he wrote.

Coined in the 1960s by a Soviet astronomer, the futurist term refers to a civilization able to use all of the energy from its home system's star.

SpaceX filed papers early this year with US regulators that set the stage for what could be the largest-ever public stock offering, a source familiar with the matter told AFP.

The confidential filing puts the rocket and satellite builder on track to list its shares on a public exchange by July, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified sources.

Media reports have said the initial public offering could be valued at a whopping $75 billion or more, for a venture with stratospheric ambitions.

If successful, SpaceX could arrive on Wall Street with a valuation exceeding $1.75 trillion, putting it among the world's ten biggest companies by market capitalization.

Besides SpaceX, two other tech heavyweights, the AI developers OpenAI and Anthropic, are reportedly planning IPOs this year.

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