Good morning. Lip-Bu Tan was anxiously preparing for the biggest meeting of his life. Just five months into his tenure as chief executive of Intel, Tan was already fighting for his job. A few days earlier, Donald Trump had demanded he step down over his past ties to the Chinese military.

• In the Oval: Tan met with Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in the Oval Office. He sought to convince the president that he wasn’t a Chinese spy and that the U.S. government has a long-term interest in bolstering Intel, one of the only homegrown manufacturers of the computer chips that power the modern economy.
   
• The cost: The CEO’s argument proved persuasive. The president also took a liking to Tan. But the truce came with a cost: In return for Trump’s support, the administration proposed taking an equity stake in the company. It decided to convert nearly $9 billion in grants—promised to Intel as part of the 2022 Chips Act—into a 10% equity stake in the company, an unusual arrangement that makes the government Intel’s biggest shareholder.
   
• Unpredictability: The meeting was the pivot point in a frenzied period for Intel, once one of America’s most venerated technology companies, now stuck in a yearslong downward spiral. The company’s scramble to control the fallout from the president’s demand that Tan step down—triggered by a Fox Business Network segment—underscores the unpredictable environment major corporations face under Trump.

Elon Musk’s xAI sues Apple and OpenAI, alleging they are monopolists.

Elon Musk’s artificial-intelligence startup xAI sued Apple and OpenAI on Monday, alleging the companies are illegally thwarting competition for AI companies.

The lawsuit says the iPhone-maker’s partnership with OpenAI makes the startup’s ChatGPT the “only generative AI chatbot that benefits from billions of user prompts originating from hundreds of millions of iPhones.”

That enables OpenAI to use the prompts and feedback to improve its model, a significant advantage, according to the complaint. The suit also says Apple is deprioritizing the apps of competing chatbots in its App Store rankings.

Court clears U.S. workplace bias agency to run long probes.

The U.S. anti-employment discrimination agency can keep pursuing its investigations even after allowing private parties to bring their own lawsuits, a federal appeals court ruled, reports Risk Journal’s Richard Vanderford.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission can continue to investigate allegations following the issuance of what is called a “right-to-sue” letter, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said in a decision published Monday.

The decision gives more legal power to the EEOC, which has changed direction under President Trump but remains an aggressive enforcer of U.S. anti-workplace discrimination law. The Second Circuit’s jurisdiction extends to New York, Connecticut and Vermont.

• The U.S. will increase tariffs and impose export restrictions on countries that tax or regulate U.S. tech firms, President Trump said on Monday evening, in his most direct threat to retaliate against nations that he views as discriminating against companies such as Google and Meta Platforms.

Trump says he wants more stakes in companies after Intel deal.

Following the government’s agreement to convert nearly $9 billion in grants into a 10% stake in Intel, President Trump says the deal is a new way of doing industrial policy and signals more agreements could be ahead.

“I want to try and get as much as I can,” he said. “I hope I’m going to have many more cases like it.”

An administration official told The Wall Street Journal last week that big chip companies like TSMC and Micron receiving funds from the 2022 Chips Act won’t have to give up equity because they are investing more in the U.S. Smaller companies may be asked to let the government become a shareholder.

‘Uncharted waters’: Trump’s attempt to take charge of the Fed.

President Trump’s attempt to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook is the most dramatic step yet in his effort to take control of the independent central bank and its vast authority over interest rates.

Trump has for months demanded the Federal Reserve lower rates to boost the economy, make housing more affordable, and lower the cost of servicing the national debt. He has castigated Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not moving sooner to cut them. By replacing Cook, he could add enough voices to the seven-member board of governors to potentially outvote Powell and move interest rates in his preferred direction.

• Trump Says He Is Removing Fed Governor Lisa Cook

• Cracker Barrel planned to celebrate a fall menu and logo makeover with a festive country music concert in New York City, but its new logo stole the show—and not in a way the company intended.
   
• Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said Monday that sanctions against Russia must remain in place even if the war in Ukraine ends, saying that neither a cease-fire nor a peace agreement are sufficient to allow lifting sanctions.
   
• Last week, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. labor market has entered “a curious kind of balance.” The demand for workers has cooled, yet the unemployment rate has held steady because the supply of labor has slowed abruptly. Behind that slowing in the labor supply is a dramatic swing in immigration, from one of the biggest waves in U.S. history to almost none.
   
• The U.S. escalated its confrontation with Brazil’s judiciary, describing Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes as “toxic” to businesses seeking American market access and warning that foreign support for alleged human rights violators could trigger additional sanctions, Risk Journal reports.

• President Trump intensified his tough-on-crime push Monday, signing a pair of executive orders that aim to end the use of cashless bail both nationally and in Washington, D.C.
   
• A House committee has issued a subpoena for the birthday book that was given to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday.
   
• Conditions in the Texas manufacturing sector worsened this month, a survey showed, ending the short-lived rebound seen a month earlier.
   
• A ride-along shows how Florida’s police force has become integrated into the federal government’s enforcement efforts.

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