For a Times Reporter Who Covered Him, Francis Was Always a Surprise

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was my pick to be elected pope. I was wrong. It was 2005, and the Argentine cardinal, a South American Jesuit known for riding the bus, ticked many of the boxes that church experts told me needed to be filled to move the church forward. Instead, the College of […]

Elon’s xAI swallows up social network X in a surprise move

Elon Musk said his xAI artificial intelligence startup has acquired the X platform, which he himself controls, at a valuation of $33 billion, marking a surprise twist for the social network formerly known as Twitter.“The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion,” the billionaire wrote Friday in a post on X. […]