U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin convened for a summit today at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, their first face-to-face meeting of 2025.

The summit was originally planned as a private meeting but was revised to include senior officials.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff joined Trump, accompanied by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

On the Russian side, attendees included Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and presidential aide Yuri Ushakov.

This marks the first time that a Russian leader has set foot on U.S. soil since 2015, and the first summit on U.S. military property since 1988.

Trump greeted Putin with a red-carpet reception and invited him into the presidential limousine for a brief private exchange conducted without translators.

The two then proceeded to expanded talks, stepping away from the early format of a one-on-one meeting.

In remarks ahead of the talks, Trump expressed openness to security guarantees for Ukraine—though he said that any decisions on territorial arrangements must be made by Ukraine.

He emphasised that his role was to bring Putin back to the negotiating table, not to negotiate on behalf of Kyiv.

He warned of “very severe” consequences if Putin showed no interest in peace.

He also acknowledged the possibility of economic incentives to encourage Moscow to end the war.

The summit took place as Russian airstrikes continued across eastern and southern Ukraine, including a reported strike on a market in Sumy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised the summit’s optics, stating that “on the day of negotiations, they are also killing.”

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov arrived wearing a symbolic Soviet-era sweatshirt, and the summit has drawn criticism due to its absence of Ukrainian and European representation.

However, both European capitals and Zelenskyy had engaged with Trump ahead of the meeting to communicate red lines and security concerns.

This meeting came after an earlier diplomatic engagement in February when U.S. and Russian delegates, including Rubio and Lavrov, met in Riyadh to initiate discussions on the Ukraine war, also without Ukrainian participation.

The Anchorage summit centres on the conflict in Ukraine and broader security discussions.

Talks are expected to continue for several hours, including a bilateral lunch with expanding delegations.

Russia brought business leaders to the summit, and Trump noted that while they expressed interest in doing business, they would not proceed until the war is “settled.”

American Bitcoin, a U.S. cryptocurrency mining and holding company backed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, is pursuing acquisitions in Asia to expand a strategic bitcoin reserve.

The company is evaluating targets among publicly listed firms in Japan and potentially Hong Kong.

The group plans to become publicly traded through a stock-for-stock merger in which Gryphon Digital Mining will acquire American Bitcoin, with the combined company expected to list under the American Bitcoin brand.

The parties signed definitive agreements in May, with the transaction targeted to close as early as the third quarter of 2025.

American Bitcoin was formed after a transaction in which Hut 8 contributed substantially all of its ASIC miners to American Data Centers in exchange for a majority interest; the entity was subsequently renamed American Bitcoin.

The business initially developed within Dominari Holdings’ portfolio before rebranding following the Hut 8 deal.

The venture originated from American Data Centers, a company launched with participation from Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and American Bitcoin will colocate capacity at multiple Hut 8 sites.

Separately, other family-linked digital-asset initiatives have advanced corporate treasury strategies.

World Liberty Financial announced a transaction under which Nasdaq-listed ALT5 Sigma would raise 1.5 billion dollars, acquire WLFI tokens, and appoint new directors, including Eric Trump and a WLFI co-founder, to its board.

Statements describing the arrangement outlined the establishment of a crypto-asset treasury within a public company.

Industry reports have also noted new backing for American Bitcoin from well-known digital-asset investors through a private placement conducted in bitcoin.

In Asia, recent event schedules show Eric Trump as a headline speaker at a regional bitcoin conference in Hong Kong, coinciding with the city’s efforts to promote a digital-asset hub.

Trade publications have summarized American Bitcoin’s intention to add bitcoin through accretive acquisitions in Japan and Hong Kong ahead of its planned market debut.

The next version of Microsoft’s operating system, expected to launch within the next one to two years, is projected to introduce a fundamental shift in how users interact with their computers.

Windows 12 is being developed with integrated artificial intelligence designed to make the system contextually aware of its surroundings and user activity.

Unlike traditional systems where AI functions as a separate application, the upcoming Windows platform will embed AI directly into the operating system itself.

The goal is to enable the computer to understand what the user is doing—whether writing a document, editing an image, or engaging in a video call—and proactively offer assistance.

This approach aligns with the concept of 'ambient computing,' first introduced by Google in 2019, where technology is seamlessly embedded into the user's environment.

A key feature of Windows 12 will be its multimodal interaction capabilities, with a particular emphasis on voice input.

The system is expected to interpret natural language commands alongside traditional inputs such as keyboard and mouse.

Microsoft envisions a user interface where voice becomes a primary method of interaction, alongside typing and touch, allowing users to communicate more intuitively with their devices.

According to available reports, this shift will not only affect how users interact with their devices but will also result in substantial visual changes to the Windows interface.

AI agents embedded within the system will not only respond to user commands but also take initiative to streamline tasks and enhance productivity.

To support these functionalities, Windows 12 will use a hybrid processing model, combining on-device computing with cloud-based AI services.

This integration is intended to ensure smooth performance and responsiveness.

Microsoft is not alone in this direction; competitors such as Apple are reportedly working on similar voice navigation and control features for their own operating systems.

However, the inclusion of pervasive AI capabilities has prompted significant concerns over user privacy.

A system that continuously 'listens' and 'watches' to understand context inherently requires access to large volumes of personal and sensitive data.

The reliance on both local and cloud processing intensifies the debate over how such data will be collected, stored, and used.

Privacy advocates and regulatory bodies are expected to demand greater transparency and stricter oversight over data usage.

Past criticism directed at Microsoft over privacy lapses in earlier features—such as Recall in Copilot+ and search history tracking in Windows 10 and 11—underscores the importance of including robust user controls.

These would ideally allow users to manage what data is shared or withheld from the system’s AI components.