Google has reportedly signed a deal to provide AI models to the Pentagon for classified work
The Pentagon has signed similar agreements with OpenAI and xAI.
Google employees are urging CEO Sundar Pichai to reject classified AI workloads.
Google has signed a deal to provide the Pentagon with its artificial intelligence models for classified work, according to a report from The Information.
The agreement allows the U.S. Department of Defense to use Google’s AI for “any lawful governmental purpose,” people familiar with the deal toldThe New York Times. The language mirrors the contracts the Pentagon signed last month with OpenAI and xAI to use their AI models on classified networks.
“We are proud to be part of a broad consortium of leading A.I. labs and technology and cloud companies providing A.I. services and infrastructure in support of national security,” a Google spokesperson told The New York Times. “We remain committed to the private and public sector consensus that A.I. should not be used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weaponry without appropriate human oversight.”
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Decrypt.
While the details have not been disclosed, ahead of the deal, it comes as hundreds of Google employees signed an open letter to CEO Sundar Pichai urging the company not to make its AI systems available to the Pentagon.
“We want to see AI benefit humanity; not see it being used in inhumane or extremely harmful ways,” the letter said. Currently, the only way to guarantee that Google does not become associated with such harm is to reject any classified workloads. Otherwise, such uses may occur without our knowledge or the power to stop them.”
The letter argues that AI systems “make mistakes” and can “centralize power,” and argues Google has a responsibility to prevent “its most unethical and dangerous uses,” including “lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance.”
The employees warn that making the “wrong call right now would cause irreparable damage to Google’s reputation, business, and role in the world.”
The Pentagon has accelerated efforts to secure agreements with major AI companies since January, when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the technology should be integrated across the military.
The letter underscores a growing divide between the military and some AI developers over how the technology should be used in warfare.
In March, the Pentagon designated Anthropic a “supply chain risk,” effectively barring the San Francisco startup from working with the federal government, after CEO Dario Amodei refused to allow unrestricted use of its AI models. Anthropic has since sued the Pentagon over the designation while seeking to continue working with other parts of the government.
Despite the pushback from employees, Google appears to be moving forward with its Pentagon deal as the Defense Department expands its use of artificial intelligence across classified operations.
“Simply put, the United States must win the strategic competition for 21st century technological supremacy,” Hegseth said in a speech at Elon Musk’s Starbase in January, calling it “long overdue.”
“Very soon, we will have the world’s leading AI models on every unclassified and classified network throughout our department,” he said.
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Britain’s King Charles III has used a speech in front of the United States Congress to pledge NATO unity and call for support for Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.
The address on Tuesday came during the royal’s four-day visit to the US, with the US-Israel war with Iran, US President Donald Trump’s criticism of NATO, and trade tensions between the longtime allies looming large.
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But Charles avoided any reference to specific frictions during his speech at the US Capitol, instead striking a light tone in his joke-heavy opening.
He praised what he called the shared history and values of the two countries, quipping at one point that Washington, DC was “a tale of two Georges”, the first US President George Washington and his ancestor, the UK’s King George.
He assured lawmakers, to laughs, he was not in the US “as part of some cunning rearguard action” in a delayed continuation of the Revolutionary War.
“I am here on this great occasion in the life of our nations to express the highest regard and friendship of the British people to the people of the United States,” the sovereign said to repeated standing ovations.
But amid broad themes of unity, more pointed messages lurked.
Charles did not directly address the US-Israel war with Iran or Trump’s outspoken criticism of NATO allies who have rejected joining Washington’s war efforts.
Instead, he praised support for NATO and the alliance’s invocation of its Article 5 collective defence treaty in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
“We answered the call together, as our people have done so for more than a century, shoulder to shoulder through two world wars, the Cold War, Afghanistan and moments that have defined our shared security,” he said.
He then turned to funding for Ukraine, an increasingly pointed issue in the Republican-controlled US Congress.
“Today, Mr Speaker, that same unyielding resolve is needed for the defence of Ukraine and her most courageous people,” he said, referring to House Speaker Mike Johnson.
In one instance, Charles hailed the “$430 billion in annual trade that continues to grow, the $1.7 trillion in mutual investment that fuels that innovation”.
Last week, Trump threatened to impose a “big tariff” on the UK if it did not drop a digital services tax on US tech companies.
At another point, Charles pointed to global environmental concerns.
“We ignore, at our peril, the fact that these natural systems, in other words, nature’s own economy, provide the foundation for our prosperity and our national security,” he said.
Trump has called climate change a “con job” and withdrew from the landmark Paris Agreement climate accords during his first and second terms. His administration has since pursued deregulation of fossil fuels and pivoted away from green energy, an approach embraced by many members of the president’s Republican party.
Other messages appeared to gently reference political trends in the US, where critics have accused Trump of using the Department of Justice for political retribution and of overturning long-standing norms of presidential authority.
Charles described the “common ideals” of the US and UK: “The rule of law, the certainty of stable and accessible rules, an independent judiciary, resolving disputes and delivering impartial justice”.
He also drew a throughline between the Magna Carta, the 13th-century document that established that the British king was subject to law, and constitutional and legal precedent in the US, calling it “the foundation of the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances”.
The address came shortly before Trump was set to host Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, for an official state dinner.
The pair were then set to visit New York and Virginia, before an official farewell ceremony at the White House on Thursday.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has added Gensyn (AI) to its listing roadmap.
AI, an AI-themed altcoin, officially connects the computing, data, and information necessary for AI systems to function and learn, while also allowing both humans and machines to participate in and benefit from this information exchange.
At the end of a very strange dinner punctuated by flickering lights and ominous warnings, a travel writer (Bashir Salahuddin) scouting an island village diagnoses what he sees as the problem with its marketing pitch. “I see what’s going on here. You don’t want to be Nantucket. You want to be Salem,” he says. Leaning in, he adds, “It’s a nice town. You don’t need the gimmick.”
It’s a well-intentioned bit of advice, and exactly the compliment mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys), the man who’s been desperately trying to show him a good time, has been hoping to hear. By that point, however, Tom, and we, understand that he is dead wrong. This is a nice town. But its spookiness is no gimmick. It’s the real deal. And in a TV landscape dotted with quirky little hamlets, it’s the best reason to drop in on Widow’s Bay, Apple’s uneven but intriguing mashup of Pawnee-style coziness and Derry-esque chills.
Widow’s Bay
The Bottom Line
Worth a visit.
Airdate: Wednesday, April 29 (Apple) Cast: Matthew Rhys, Kate O’Flynn, Stephen Root, Kevin Carroll, Dale Dickey, Kingston Rumi Southwick, Jeff Hiller, K Callan Creator: Katie Dippold
Even before the island reveals its supernatural hand, it exerts a strong pull. With sweet shingled buildings, a briny breeze you can practically taste thanks to Christian Sprenger’s crisp photography, and an appealingly old-fashioned lack of Wi-Fi, Widow’s Bay, located 40 miles off the New England coast, feels like a refreshing antidote to disconnected modernity.
If its denizens seem a bit offbeat, that’s part of the charm — this is the sort of insular enclave where a chain-smoking gossip (Dale Dickey’s Rosemary) will tell you exactly which of her neighbors is suffering from syphilis or crushing debt, and a salty fisherman (Stephen Root’s Wyck) can trace his lineage on this rock back for centuries. And while Tom might be desperate to downplay the town’s surprisingly bleak history (the people did not immediately turn to cannibalism during the deadly storm of 1786, he insists to a visitor: “That took four days!”), even that just adds to its sense of character. It’s no wonder he imagines this place becoming the next Martha’s Vineyard.
But Widow’s Bay, it soon becomes apparent, is more than just strange. Among locals, it’s established fact that the whole place is damned: Monsters roam its woods and mysterious storms rock its coastlines, and legend has it anyone born here can never leave. Mainlanders like Tom might be more skeptical of those claims (and to be fair, he’s not wrong to point out that “the fog took him” is hardly the only logical explanation for the disappearance of a sailor with a drinking problem), but the evidence speaks for itself. By the end of the first episode, it’s clear something unequivocally supernatural is happening here. By the midpoint of its ten-part season, it’s obvious Tom must do something to counteract the curse, lest it destroy not only his citizens but all the tourists he’s insisted on luring here, in a “mayor from Jaws“-level fit of denial.
At its best, Widow’s Bay highlights the blurry line between comedy and horror. The premiere, directed by Hiro Murai (Atlanta), bleeds from the former to the latter as Tom tries at first to brush off the island’s ugly history (“But he murdered teenage girls. You’re in your 40s,” he reasons with an assistant, Kate O’Flynn’s Patricia, still haunted by her youthful brush with a serial killer) and then is confronted by the sheer, undeniable truth of it. That it’s not always easy to decide what’s odd in a scary way and what’s odd in a funny way is part of the fun.
Another favorite of mine was the Patricia-centric, Sam Donovan-helmed fourth episode, which cuts a jagged line between the pathos of her loneliness, the cringe comedy of her efforts to fix it, and true horror as we realize what she’s been driven to do. It’s also one of the few installments not centered around Tom, and speaks to the potential for any future seasons to continue fleshing out the rest of the ensemble.
But if Widow’s Bay excels at setting a tone of pervasive oddness, with the help of directors like Ti West and Andrew Young, it’s less reliable at converting that tension into catharsis. Despite an ensemble that wouldn’t feel out of place on a Mike Schur sitcom, the series only rarely rises above the level of darkly amusing; I smirked often but laughed almost never. While it contains a few solid jolts, many of them nodding to genre classics like It or Halloween, none are nasty or surprising enough to leave a lasting mark. And with episodes running around 40 minutes apiece, the lack of payoff left me frustrated more than once.
In fairness, those vibing harder with the show’s creepy-cozy vibe might find the relaxed pace of the storytelling a boon rather than a drawback — all the more time to soak it all in. And even with my minor complaints, I found myself reluctant to abandon this isle entirely. As that travel writer also comments to Tom, the real secret sauce of Widow’s Bay is the people.
Rhys delivers some top-notch physical comedy as Tom, a coward trying and failing to mask his flop sweat in bright smiles and reasonable tones. Root is delightfully salty as an old-timer who’s long since run out of the patience needed to deal with that kind of bullshit. A deep bench of comic performers (the most exciting of which I’ve been asked not to spoil here) add to the sense that anything might and does happen in Widow’s Bay. For my money, though, the breakout performance is O’Flynn’s. Tragically earnest but painfully awkward, her Patricia comes off like the sort of overgrown outcast you might imagine Carrie White growing into under less fiery circumstances.
These are not folks I’d necessarily want to live with day in and day out, let alone hunker down with for days on end should a devilish flood or a masked immortal murderer threatens to demolish the entire populace for good. But against the most strenuous warnings from the likes of Wyck and eventually Tom, they do make Widow’s Bay a destination worth visiting — perhaps even again and again, for years and years to come.
Season 34 of Dancing With the Starswas a moment in itself, but as Emmy season picks up and the show finds itself vying for awards recognition, the road to season 35 is already being laid out.
“We’re deep into it,” executive producer and casting head Deena Katz tells The Hollywood Reporter of her plans for the forthcoming installment at an EmmysFYC event on Sunday in Hollywood. “We’re already deep into casting, we’re talking themes — we’re talking everything.”
Sunday’s event, held at the Dolby Theatre, allowed attendees to learn more about the creative processes that mold Dancing With the Stars. The season 34 finale earned the show’s highest ratings in a decade, and they’re ready to continue that momentum with further acknowledgment from the Television Academy.
The reality show historically earns craft nominations, though it’s been 10 years since Dancing With the Stars earned a coveted nod in the reality competition program category. Shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race and The Traitors (which Katz co-exec produces and casts for) have dominated the unscripted landscape in the past decade, but with its newfound success, showrunner Conrad Green and Katz are hopeful Emmys voters will recognize the blood, sweat and tears that feed into creating a two-hour-long live show for 11 weeks at a time.
“I think the Emmy voters understand and appreciate that there’s very little like this on television anymore apart from those big award shows,” Green explains. “There’s very little production of this level on television, certainly not routinely, week after week. For comedy, you’ve got Saturday Night Live; for dancing and entertainment, you’ve got Dancing With the Stars. It’s a similar process: It’s a weekly turnaround where you have to hit that excellence every time.”
Deena Katz and Conrad Green at the Dancing With the Stars FYC event.
Frank Micelotta/Disney
The professional dancers put on a dazzling performance on Sunday, pinpointing their strengths as performers and giving a tease of what fans tune in to see every Tuesday night as the main season airs.
A Q&A panel led by DWTS alumni and Love Island host Ariana Madix followed the show, where the series’ strongpoints were highlighted, including its ability to foster community each and every week with viewers, which sets it apart from other reality shows that don’t utilize a live viewing (and voting) model.
As for plans for season 35, Katz said they’re in the midst of working on “every single part of it.” Part of those plans were unveiled at Hulu’s Get Real House 2026, with The Traitors runner-up Maura Higgins and Summer House star Ciara Miller announced as the first two celebrities boarding the 2026 Dancing season.
Higgins previously told THR she’d love to compete on the ABC show, with Katz reiterating that sentiment. “Maura has literally manifested this. She texts me every time she’s coming to L.A. She wants to have lunch. She’s been dying to do the show, and she’s fantastic. She’s great television. She’s funny. She’s entertaining,” she says.
“[Maura] is exactly what our show is, and she’s having a moment right now, so that was a no brainer. And knowing what was going to happen with Traitors and seeing the buzz about her, she was fantastic,” Katz adds of tapping her for the show. “She’d be one of those people that Conrad is going to love that you’re not sure what she’s going to say at any moment on live television.”
Green agrees, adding, “She’s so authentic, and gorgeous and likable. I mean, likable goes a long way.”
Dancing With the Stars FYC performance.
Frank Micelotta/Disney
Bravo darling Miller “was a really of the moment” casting choice, Katz explains, referring to the ongoing Summer House scandal that has plagued her personal life. Miller’s ex-boyfriend and best friend, West Wilson and Amanda Batula, recently revealed they are now dating, creating a major scandal in the Bravosphere.
“I already knew Ciara. She was on Traitors, and she’s wonderful. She’s stunning, she’s gorgeous; she’s all these things,” Katz says. “And then the stuff that happened to her, it was a really of the moment thing that we all felt like it was the right time. We really wanted her on the show, but it was also the right time to announce her.”
Miller’s casting mirrors that of Madix, who was offered the opportunity to appear on Dancing after she was also caught in the crossfire of a Bravo scandal, better known as Scandoval. Miller and Madix’s castings were not, and will not, be the only timely castings for the ballroom show, though Green explains the opportunity to compete on the series can mark a new positive pathway for Miller.
“Sometimes you have challenges in your life, but you always have something that could make it better,” he says. “[DWTS] could heal, as in she’s so excited about the idea of doing it, taking on that challenge, being able to focus on something positive, a new skill in her life, a new thing.”
Katz also shared a sweet story about how Miller joining Dancing serves as a full-circle moment in her life.
“What we didn’t know is in [Ciara’s] grandmother’s house in North Carolina, that she just bought, there was a room where she used to do MTV videos pretending she was going to be an MTV Veejay,” Katz shares. “She had this kind of passion and wanted to do this kind of thing as a young kid. It’s so great, full circle, to be able to give her this [opportunity] at this time.”
While there’s been no word on which pro dancers are returning for season 35, the next artist joining the cast will be revealed this summer with the addition of the show’s new extension, Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro. Green confirms that the winner “is secretly in the bank,” and that the spinoff will pull the curtain on what it really takes to be a pro dancer.
“[The Next Pro shows] just how many different skills you need to be a pro on Dancing With the Stars. Just being a good ballroom or Latin dancer is the basics,” he says, continuing, “But you have to be able to do group dancing, choreograph, manage difficult people, manage time pressure, format a dance and choreograph for a one-minute routine that’s got moments that might get picked up on social media that might make your couple pop.”
The DWTS spinoff was a priority for both Katz and Green because, at the core of the series, Green explains, is the pro slate.
“If you’re a dancer, this is probably the best gig in the world, if you want to be known for what you do and have a creative outlet where you’re at the center of it,” Green adds. “And one big thing for me coming back to the show is refocusing our energy on making the dancer the center of this, because they are the creative hub of the show. There’s a huge creative team around them who are super talented, but it’s them at the core of it with their choreography, with their passion, with their patience, that drive the whole enterprise.”
Viewers will have to wait just a bit longer until the full cast list for season 35 is revealed, but until then, buzz for the series continues to grow as the Next Pro approaches and the first-ever Dancing With the Stars Con sashays to Palm Springs in late July.
But before that, Emmys voters will decide if the virality of season 34 deems Dancing awards worthy.
“There’s no reality show that’s as real as Dancing With the Stars,” judge Derek Hough said during the panel on Sunday. “Let’s get that Emmy!”
Kevin Durant has not played in the last three games in Houston’s first-round series.
HOUSTON — Kevin Durant continues to make progress with his injured left ankle, but it seems unlikely that he’ll return Wednesday night for Game 5 against the Los Angeles Lakers (10 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Durant didn’t participate in practice with the Rockets on Tuesday before they left for California, trailing 3-1 in the first-round series. But he was seen running on an anti-gravity treadmill as the team wrapped up its work before heading to the airport.
Coach Ime Udoka was asked if there was a possibility that Durant would play in Game 5 after missing the last two games with a sprained left ankle and bone bruise.
“We’ll see,” Udoka said. “It is day to day, game to game. But we’ll have to get on the court and do some things, and he didn’t participate in practice today. But he’s doing the conditioning and other aspects to try to get back.”
Durant has missed three games in this series after he sat out the opener with a bruised right knee. He returned for Game 2, scoring 23 points in 41 minutes of the 101-94 loss, during which he injured his ankle late in the game.
The Rockets won Game 4, 115-96, despite missing their superstar to avoid elimination.
Durant’s injury problems this postseason came after the 37-year-old ranked second in the league in the regular season by playing 2,840 minutes.
Durant, who is in his first season in Houston after an offseason trade from Phoenix, is the fifth-leading scorer in NBA history.
The Boston Celtics look to advance to the second round by closing out the Philadelphia 76ers to begin tonight’s action on ESPN.
We’re bringing you the best of the 2026 NBA Playoffs, presented by Google, with the NBA.com live blog, featuring all of the meaningful moments, performances, observations, news, recaps and highlights from Tuesday’s action.
We open the night with the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers continuing a historic rivalry, as Jayson Tatum’s squad looks to close out Joel Embiid’s and advance to the second round (7 ET, ESPN).
That’ll be followed by another chapter in the epic series between the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks (8 ET, Peacock / NBC) and a chance for the San Antonio Spurs to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers (9:30 ET, ESPN) and reach the second round for the first time in the Victor Wembanyama era.
APRIL 28, 2026 / 6:00 ET
Tyrese Maxey and the Philadelphia 76ers will look to keep their season alive in Boston against the Celtics to start tonight’s action on ESPN.
Philadelphia:
PG Tyrese Maxey
The 76ers’ main scorer has to adjust with Joel Embiid back.
SG VJ Edgecombe
The rookie out of Baylor has been a bellwether for Philly this series. If he’s hot, they’re dangerous.
SF Kelly Oubre Jr.
The swingman is always a thorn in the side of the Celtics.
PF Paul George
Can the future Hall of Famer outplay Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown with the Sixers’ season on the line?
C Joel Embiid
Embiid is 3-13 against the Celtics in his Playoff career.
Boston:
PG Derrick White
White is always a steadying influence for Boston. Can he help contain Tyrese Maxey while finding offensive opportunities?
SG Jaylen Brown
Brown leads the Celtics in free throws attempted (29) during this series. His steady downhill pressure is key.
SF Sam Hauser
Hauser is shooting 45.5% from 3-point range this series. He can change a game quickly from deep.
PF Jayson Tatum
Tatum is 15-5 against the 76ers in his Playoffs career.
C Neemias Queta:
Queta has faced foul trouble in each of the last two games. With Joel Embiid back, Boston will also look to Nikola Vučević to battle in the post.
Keep an eye on Payton Pritchard off the Celtics’ bench. The sixth-year guard out of Oregon is second on the team in plus-minus this series (+44, behind Tatum’s +48).
APRIL 28, 2026 / 5:45 ET
Tuesday’s injury report
Joel Embiid is probable for the 76ers, while Tyrese Maxey is available.
Jock Landale is out for the Hawks.
Jonathan Isaac has been upgraded to doubtful for tomorrow’s Magic-Pistons Game 5.
The DeFi United coalition has published a technical implementation for restoring rsETH token backing following the Kelp DAO hack.
The relief effort secured over $300 million in ETH commitments to eliminate bad debt on Aave and Compound.
The plan converts committed ETH into rsETH, then liquidates hacker positions through governance-controlled oracle adjustments.
Aave-led coalition DeFi United has published a technical plan to restore backing for rsETH tokens and eliminate bad debt left by North Korean hackers on Aave and Compound.
The recovery strategy calls for converting committed ETH into rsETH in controlled tranches, then liquidating the attacker’s positions through temporarily adjusted oracle prices. The coalition aims to recover approximately 13,000 ETH from affected positions on Aave’s Ethereum and Arbitrum markets, and 16,776 ETH from Compound.
The hackers had deposited 89,567 unbacked rsETH as collateral to borrow 82,650 WETH and 821 wstETH across the platforms. The Arbitrum Security Council has already frozen $71.5 million traced to the exploiter’s addresses.
“Deliberate interference by the attacker could result in incomplete deficit accrual, requiring additional liquidation steps to fully resolve the positions,” Aave warned.
The technical plan has backing from major industry players who have committed $303 million in total capital and credit as of Monday. Consensys and Joseph Lubin pledged up to 30,000 ETH, while Aave Labs CEO Stani Kulechov personally committed 5,000 ETH. Lido proposed allocating up to 2,500 stETH. (Disclosure: Consensys is one of 22 investors in an editorially independent Decrypt.)
“The Ethereum ecosystem has always been at its best when it moves together,” Lubin said, calling DeFi United a “broad, coordinated response to protect users and strengthen the infrastructure we’ve all helped build.”
The recovery effort addresses fallout from the April 18 Kelp DAO hack, in which North Korean attackers stole $293 million by tricking the protocol into releasing unbacked rsETH tokens. The hackers made off with 116,500 rsETH—18% of the token’s circulating supply—leaving Aave and Compound exposed to worthless collateral.
It marks one of DeFi’s largest coordinated recovery efforts since the sector’s inception, with previous protocol exploits typically having left users to absorb losses individually.
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Bernstein cut IREN’s price target from $125 to $100 amid Bitcoin mining scale-down and share dilution, while keeping an Outperform rating.
IREN is transitioning from Bitcoin mining to AI cloud, anchored by a major Microsoft GPU contract worth $1.94 billion in annualized revenue.
By 2030, Bernstein forecasts $6 billion in cloud revenue and ~82% EBITDA margins as IREN scales to 275,000 GPUs.
Bernstein analysts trimmed their price target on IREN from $125 to $100 per share Monday while reaffirming the stock as their top pick among AI-focused Bitcoin miners, citing the company’s rapid transformation into a superscale AI cloud provider—and an expectation that it will fully wind down crypto mining operations in the coming years.
The investment firm said the target reduction reflects two factors unrelated to IREN’s business prospects: a scaling back of Bitcoin mining and an increase in shares outstanding from recent equity issuances—not any deterioration in the company’s AI ambitions.
At the heart of the bull case is a major deal with Microsoft. IREN has contracted 77,000 of its 150,000 GPUs to the software giant under a five-year deal anchored by roughly $1.94 billion in annualized revenue. The remaining GPU capacity is being marketed to on-demand cloud customers, with $400 million in contracts already signed as of February.
To finance the buildout, IREN struck a $5.8 billion purchase agreement with Dell for Nvidia GB300 processors and secured $3.6 billion in GPU-backed financing at an interest rate below 6%. Combined with Microsoft prepayments, the arrangement covers roughly 95 percent of the capital needed for the Microsoft contract, analysts said.
Bernstein projects that IREN’s AI cloud revenues will reach $2.6 billion in 2027 and climb to $6 billion by 2030, when the company expects to operate a fleet of 275,000 GPUs—up from 150,000 today. Adjusted EBITDA margins are forecast to stabilize near 82 percent at scale, implying nearly $5 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization by the end of the decade.
The company’s 4.5 gigawatts of power holdings—spanning sites in Texas, British Columbia and Oklahoma—underpin the longer-term growth story. Bernstein valued IREN’s 3.6 gigawatts of undeveloped capacity in Sweetwater and Oklahoma at $3 million per megawatt, contributing roughly $10.8 billion to the firm’s sum-of-the-parts valuation.
Bitcoin mining, once the core of IREN’s business, is assigned zero value in the updated model. Analysts expect the company to continue replacing mining hardware with GPU racks as it repurposes existing infrastructure for cloud workloads. Bernstein projects that the firm’s mining revenue will plunge in the coming years before reaching zero in fiscal year 2030.
Many other prominent Bitcoin mining firms have strongly embraced theAI opportunity in recent months, with some even abandoning crypto mining altogether amid the AI boom.
IREN shares recently traded at $43.78, down more than 9% on the day amid a broader AI-related stock rout tied to a report of OpenAI underperformance. Over the last month, IREN shares have jumped by nearly 25%. At the current price, Bernstein’s price target represents approximately 128% upside for investors.
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Last week, Nia Long got the tap on the shoulder she’s been waiting for forever. It was a summons from Katherine Jackson, the matriarch of the Jackson family, whom she portrays in the new biopic, “Michael.”
Long steeled herself as she walked into a green room backstage at the Dolby Theatre and, when they came face to face, she froze for a moment. Then, she kneeled down, held the 95-year-old woman’s hand and said, “Thank you so much for all your sacrifices, for your love, for your patience, for your commitment to family.”
“Mother Jackson,” as Long calls her, simply gazed back at her, so she continued: “I said, ‘Do you realize none of this would be possible without you? You are the beginning of the Jackson legacy.’ And she teared up. It was a beautiful moment, and it was confirmation for me that she’s very pleased with the film. It was just perfect.”
Indeed, Katherine Jackson was pleased with “Michael” — and audiences certainly seemed to be too, as the biopic earned a record-setting $97 million domestically and $217 million globally in its opening weekend, the best start of all time for a music biopic. And while Long had never met the Jackson matriarch before, she’d once met Michael in the early 90s.
Long and a few friends were at a Stevie Wonder concert when John Singleton, who’d directed her in “Boyz n the Hood,” stopped her and said: “I want you to meet my friend Michael.”
“I turned to my right, and it’s Michael Jackson,” she recalls. “I literally turned into a giggly schoolgirl. He just looked at me and said, ‘Hi, Nia Long, I really enjoy your work.’”
Long gets chills just thinking about that moment. “The thing that still stands out is his curiosity and his ability to connect on a very human level,” she says. “I knew that I was standing in front of Michael Jackson, this iconic treasure, [but] I felt in that moment that he was a new friend. He was meeting me exactly where I was at that time in my career, and that speaks to his humility and grace. And that comes from his mother.”
At the time, Long was still a newbie in Hollywood; she’d starred in Singleton’s Oscar-nominated film, but she had yet to establish herself as one of the decade’s hottest stars with movies like “Friday,” “Love Jones,” “Soul Food” and “The Best Man” franchise, plus a major arc on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Regardless, Jackson was already impressed — but he couldn’t have known then that one day that young woman would add playing his mother to her resume.
“There’s a spiritual aspect to this process that has to be acknowledged,” Long says, looking back on the full-circle nature of that interaction. “I truly believe Michael has a hand in everything that’s related to this film.”
Here, Long tells Variety how she tapped into Katherine Jackson’s essence without ever meeting her, how her performance differs from previous depictions, what got cut from her character arc and her hopes for a potential “Michael” sequel.
Katherine Jackson birthed this line of tremendous artists and performers and held them together as a family. When you were asked to portray her, was it an immediate yes, or did you have any trepidation?
It was an immediate “Yes,” but then I paused. I had to get very clear with myself on my approach to curating the character. Because you’re not mimicking someone. It was very important to me to embody her spirit and soul, because that’s where the truth lies. I immediately tapped into grace, love, patience, and protection. Katherine Jackson is a woman of service, so there’s a humility and grace that she carries. I knew that if I started there, I would be able to fly through the scenes anchored in those emotions and those feelings and that truth.
Since you didn’t meet her beforehand and she is not hugely public and giving tons of interviews, how did you go about finding the essence of who Katherine is?
I watched as many videos online as I could. I spoke to Graham King and Antoine Fuqua for hours about her role in the film and how to approach the character. I tapped into my own mother wit — my understanding of being a mother and having my own personal experiences that really informed me on what it means to be graceful. Sometimes, grace is being still and being quiet and understanding that the most powerful thing we can do is trust the divine feminine energy, because it is capable of creating greatness. And that is what Katherine Jackson has done. She’s just a beautiful, exceptional soul, and meeting her in person qualified everything I thought I knew. I had to put Nia away for two years and tune into that energy of being the Queen Mother. That is who she is.
This film is a celebration for Michael, but it’s also an acknowledgement of Katherine Jackson’s greatness. She is the beginning of everything. And I want to celebrate her. I want everyone to stop and think about how much she had to carry to get here.
What was your experience of the 1992 miniseries “The Jacksons: An American Dream”?
I love Angela Bassett. The beautiful thing about being an artist is that we each have our own interpretation of the character, and there’s room for everyone’s performance. I thought it was great, but this is a different film. This film is through Michael Jackson’s eyes, so we have an intimate experience with him growing up. It’s a bit of a coming-of-age story, and you really see the loneliness that he experienced as he walked into stardom.
That series presented a different part of Katherine and Joe’s relationship; it was a lot more about their relationship dynamics — like the scene where Angela’s Katherine cries out, “I don’t want you no more.” In “Michael,” your scenes with Colman tend to be a bit more about their roles as parents and those pressures. How did you two go about capturing that dynamic?
Colman and I had lots of conversations in the hair and makeup trailer about the importance of showing joy in the midst of incredibly challenging times. We’re talking about the 1960s and the Civil Rights Movement, and we wanted to show the power of the Black family dynamic. Those very early scenes when we’re at the dinner table: we’re laughing, we’re talking, we’re sharing community and we’re showing the connection between family. Because when you think about family, it is the place where everyone is meant to feel safe and together and solid. And through their commitment, they were able to create greatness.
Was the relationship perfect? No. But the commitment is larger and more important and more solid than the conflict. We were adamant about finding those moments where, even if Katherine wasn’t in total agreement with what Joe was proposing, she still supported him, until she said, “This is enough.” That’s very real. Everyone has to play their role, the masculine and feminine. They each had a very specific role in the curation of the family — and there comes a point where there will be conflict and things may even fall apart — but I do believe that it is because of their commitment that the Jackson family is what it is today.
Nia Long with the cast and filmmakers of “Michael” at the Los Angeles premiere.
Variety via Getty Images
Yes, while your Katherine might not say, “I don’t want you no more,” she’s not always demure and quiet. How did you prepare for that scene where Katherine stands up and tells Joe that’s enough?
I made the choice very early on that I would take the quieter, more subtle approach to all of my scenes, because, to me, that represented the strength of Katherine Jackson. When it was time to do that scene, we did it a couple of different ways but landed on the quieter version. It really worked beautifully, because I don’t think the audience saw it coming.
The first time I saw the film in front of an audience, and I tell Joe, “Enough. You’re not going to beat anyone anymore. You’re not going to whoop anyone,” the audience started to applaud. I was kind of shocked. I thought, “Oh, wow! I didn’t think it was going to be that impactful.” It’s in that moment that the film really changes, and you start to see that Joe is losing his control. The editors did an amazing job of putting the scene together. Antoine made a great call in allowing us to explore the scene with several different tones, but this tone was in pocket, and I’m happy that we had the space and the time to play around with it a little bit.
Speaking of Angela Bassett, she and her husband, Courtney B. Vance, hosted a screening of the film.
I loved that. Courtney called me in the middle of doing “The Today Show,” so I need to call him back, because that’s my guy. I love him and Angela.
What does it mean to have their support and so much love from other Black entertainers?
[The L.A. premiere] felt like a ‘90s movie premiere. I’ve missed those times so much where the whole community would come out to support filmmaking. Usher was there; Magic and Cookie Johnson were there. Everybody was there. It was amazing. It was just great to see everyone so excited to see this film and to celebrate a cultural icon. Michael Jackson has done it all musically and visually. He was making short films with his music videos before they were really acknowledged as short films. He was a storyteller, and he incorporated history and cultural conflict and love and the expression of independence. He was actually sharing his personal story through his music. I remember watching his videos as a young girl and being inspired to be an actor. It felt like something I had never seen. It takes years to accomplish what Michael Jackson did, and I can only imagine where he would be right now if he were still with us. He’s missed terribly.
The storyline for this film changed because of legal issues with the original script. Was there anything in Katherine’s storyline that you were disappointed to lose?
In the original version of the film, there were scenes that didn’t quite work with this cut, that were deleted but may be revisited; I’m not really sure. That’s part of filmmaking. The performances have to work with the storytelling, and sometimes things change, and it can be heartbreaking, but I’m very happy with the film as it stands today.
Can you tell me generally what parts of her story those scenes covered?
There were scenes with Jaafar and me; they were cut mostly because of the time period that this film covers. They were scenes at Neverland [Ranch]. So maybe they’ll come back if we do, in fact, do a sequel.
Nia Long (right) as Katherine Jackson with Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in “Michael.”
What do those conversations about a sequel look like for you as an actor? I imagine you have to draw up a new contract?
I’ll just say yes. I didn’t negotiate two movies; I negotiated for one film. I just want everyone to see this film and ask us to continue the storytelling.
The movie originally included scenes from Michael’s later life, including his legal issues. Katherine Jackson was always seen as the person there supporting him through those trials. What was your experience of that?
Katherine Jackson has been a constant safe space for Michael from day one and throughout his days, and I believe, until his last day. So, we weren’t avoiding anything in the storytelling. That was never the objective. But there were things beyond our creative control that shifted the storytelling. Katherine’s connection to Michael was unwavering throughout his entire life. We were very deliberate about that unwavering mother love.
Has there been any discussion about what the sequel would cover?
Honestly, I have no idea. I don’t even know if I’m in the second one. There’s no second script. But I’ll tell you one thing: Graham King is a man with a plan. I trust him implicitly. I know how much he cares about this project, about Michael, and about the family. So, this is one of those moments right where I could say, “What are we doing?” No, I’m going to just relax. Whatever I’m called to do is what I’m supposed to do. And you know what that gives me? That gives me freedom. No anxiety. No pressure. Whatever is meant to be will be. Whatever part of the story I am meant to tell, I will be there to do it.
I’m excited, too. Because when you start to think about sequels, the first thing that I think is “How does Katherine change through this journey?” Because she starts as a very young woman. By this point, she’s close to being a middle-aged woman. So, what does that look like for her? What does her relationship with her husband look like? What is the family dynamic in this next chapter? So those are all exciting things I’m looking forward to exploring as we continue the process.
Eugene Ashe, who directed your new movie “Don’t Ever Wonder,” compared you and Larenz Tate to Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams. He said this is your “Mahogany” with “Love Jones” being your “Lady Sings the Blues.” What is it like to deliver another entry into the Black love canon together?
“Don’t Ever Wonder” is about a couple experiencing life after sending their baby off to college. How do you reconnect? How do you deal with being an empty nester? It’s funny, it’s heartwarming, it’s emotional, it’s a very real take on what it’s like to reconnect with your partner after the kids are gone and you don’t have a buffer in the relationship. I love Lorenz Tate more than anything. He is not only a fantastic actor, but he’s a beautiful human being. We have such a special connection and a special calling as a duo. It’s very different from “Love Jones,” and I know that people will probably try to compare it, but Larenz and I really wanted to make sure that the characters were very different from Nina and Darius, and I think we accomplished that.
What does it mean to hear him compare you to Diana Ross? On top of being asked to embody Katherine Jackson?
I’m a worker, that’s what I know. I love to work. I love to create. I’m incredibly blessed. I love that my career has been graceful and the cadence has been manageable — meaning I can still be a mother the way that I need to be a mother. I still have a normal life. I can go to the farmers’ market on the weekend and have a connection to community without feeling like I need an entourage. And that is by design. I take the roles that feel good to me, that feel authentic to me, that encourage me to share what I know as a woman through the different characters that I play. I’m living in great gratitude right now, because I don’t take any of this for granted. I’m also very proud of myself for sticking to what I know is right for me, for keeping my standards high, staying open to change and learning. Part of having a long career is keeping your mind open to change and growth, to be inspired by other artists, other women. It’s part of my purpose.
If you look at the meaning of my name, I didn’t have a choice. [“Nia” is Swahili for “purpose.”] I never cared about stardom; I just wanted to be a voice of inspiration. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a truth teller, and I don’t back away from the truth. Sometimes it’s easier to avoid the truth than to speak the truth, but I honestly don’t know how to do it any other way. And I wouldn’t do it any other way, because that’s who I am: a truth seeker and a truth teller.
Nia Long (second) poses with her son Massai Zhivago Dorsey II, her mother Talita Long and her son Kez Sunday Udoka at the “Michael” premiere held in Los Angeles.
