New York State Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday signed an executive order barring the construction of new large-scale data centers using 50 megawatts or more of power for up to one year, making the Empire State the first state in the nation to impose such a ban. 

“We’re in the midst of one of the most significant economic upheavals in generations … perhaps ever,” the governor said, announcing the executive order in New York City. “These hyperscale AI data centers consume enormous amounts of power, truly threatening to outpace our grid’s capacity,” she added. “They drive up costs for local ratepayers, and I refuse to let those costs get passed down to New Yorkers.” 

Hochul’s sentiment echoes that of many state residents and environmental leaders, who have heavily scrutinized hyperscaler data centers on the basis of their excessive consumption of power and natural resources, particularly fresh water. 

The announcement noted that New Yorkers have seen their electric bills surge, with the state’s average residential electricity price climbing nearly 68 percent since 2019. This fact has skewed public opinion starkly against new data center construction, with major public backlash against proposed facilities in townships such as Lansing and East Fishkill. 

Leaders of the data center opposition celebrated the governor’s decision. 

“This one-year moratorium is a huge step forward for New York communities fighting against an onslaught of massive data center proposals,” stated Laura Shindell, director of New York State’s Food & Water Watch, a high-profile environmental nonprofit. “It comes as the direct result of immense public pressure from people across the state demanding their elected leaders protect them from Big Tech’s assault, which threatens the state’s clean air and water and New Yorkers’ financial security.” 

Praise was not limited to environmental and community leaders, however, as it also came from the governor’s allies, both in Congress and in the state legislature. 

“This one-year moratorium is fundamentally about trust,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, in a statement provided to WRGB Albany. “Right now, New Yorkers aren’t convinced these massive facilities benefit them. Before we move forward, our communities need ironclad guarantees that their energy bills won’t spike, their water will be protected, and their air will remain clean.”

“Technology should make our lives better, not pollute our water, strain our energy grid, or drive up our utility bills,” State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, a Democrat, stated in the New York State announcement. “By…

The European Commission has told Meta it intends to impose “interim measures” to stop the tech giant from excluding third-party AI assistants from WhatsApp.

On Monday, the EU informed the company that its preliminary view was that it had “breached” EU antitrust rules. The investigation is still ongoing, and measures are subject to Meta’s reply and rights of defense, the Commission said.

The bloc’s Commissioner for Competition, Teresa Ribera, said it would prevent “dominant tech companies to illegally leverage their dominance to give themselves an unfair advantage” to protect “effective competition.”

“AI markets are developing at rapid pace, so we also need to be swift in our action. That is why we are considering quickly imposing interim measures on Meta, to preserve access for competitors to WhatsApp, while the investigation is ongoing, and avoid Meta’s new policy irreparably harming competition in Europe,” she added.

In October, Meta announced an update to its WhatsApp Business Solution Terms, “effectively” banning third-party general-purpose AI assistants from the application, the Commission said. The policy came into effect in January.

A Commission spokesperson told CNBC that interim measures would involve it asking Meta to maintain third-party AI assistants’ access to WhatsApp under the terms before the policy change, while its investigation.

“The facts are that there is no reason for the EU to intervene in the WhatsApp Business API,” a Meta spokesperson said.

“There are many AI options and people can use them from app stores, operating systems, devices, websites, and industry partnerships. The Commission’s logic incorrectly assumes the WhatsApp Business API is a key distribution channel for these chatbots,” they added.

U.S. big tech companies were hit with a slew of fines in 2025 for breaching EU rules.

In April, Apple was fined 500 million euros after being found to have breached anti-steering obligations.

The same month, Meta was hit with a 200 million euros fine for breaching obligations to give consumers the choice of a service that uses less of their personal data.

In September, the Commission fined Google 2.95 billion euros for breaching antitrust rules around online advertising.

President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Canada that the U.S. would impose 100% tariff on goods sold in the U.S. if the country strikes a trade deal with China.

“If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A.,” the president wrote in a Truth Social post.

Trump also suggested Saturday that China would try to use Canada to try to avoid paying U.S. tariffs.

“If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken,” Trump stated.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada and China reached a preliminary deal to remove trade barriers and lower tariffs. Under the tentative agreement, Beijing cut tariffs on some Canadian agricultural products, while Ottawa increased the quotas for imports of Chinese electric vehicles, applying the most-favored-nation tariff rate of 6.1%.

Just a week ago, Trump had voiced his support for Carney on the China trade deal.

“That’s what he should be doing. It’s a good thing for him to sign a trade deal. If you can get a deal with China, you should do that,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Jan. 16.

The White House and the office of the Canadian prime minister didn’t immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

In August 2025, Trump raised the tariff on Canadian goods to 35%. Duties aren’t imposed on most Canadian exports under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), but some goods, including steel, copper and certain autos and auto parts, are subject to U.S. tariffs.

The new tariff threat comes one day after Trump withdrew the invitation to Canada to join his “Board of Peace” after Carney’s address at the World Economic Forum in Davos that cautioned against economic coercion by the world’s superpowers.

In his speech, Carney said the world’s “middle powers” must band together to resist coercion from the world’s largest powers.

Carney said last week that he intended to join the board but the details hadn’t been worked out. States seeking a permanent board seat would have to pay a $1 billion fee.

— Reuters contributed to this report.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday advocated for a test of President Donald Trump‘s proposed 10% cap on credit card interest rates in two U.S. states: Vermont and Massachusetts.

Dimon, speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, addressed a question about Trump’s order for banks to voluntarily limit their interest rates for a year. The president had called for the lower rates to take effect Tuesday.

Several large credit card lenders contacted by CNBC on Tuesday said they had made no changes to their interest rates, but they all declined to be identified as defying Trump’s proposal.

“It would be an economic disaster,” Dimon said Wednesday. “In the worst case, you’d have a drastic reduction of the credit card business” for 80% of Americans, he said.

In earnings conference calls last week and behind the scenes, banks have pushed back against Trump’s order this month to voluntarily forgo billions of dollars in revenue.

Their main argument, that price controls will result in lenders canceling accounts for many card customers, has resonated with several Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson. Most banking analysts believe that Trump would need legislation to enact a nationwide cap on card rates.