Stories you may have missed this week include the Trump administration pressing the ICC for immunity from potential war crimes, OpenAI is being sued after a chatbot played a role in a tech exec murdering his mom, a major deal between OpenAI and Disney, and another significant ruling in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case.
The Trump administration is pressuring the International Criminal Court to amend its founding document to grant immunity to President Trump and his top officials from potential war crimes prosecutions. The administration is threatening to impose sanctions on the ICC if it does not comply. There are reportedly concerns within the administration that Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other senior officials could face legal trouble at the ICC after Trump's term ends.
The ICC does not have jurisdiction over U.S. officials for actions taken on U.S. territory, as the United States is not a party to the treaty that established the ICC. However, the ICC may assert jurisdiction over U.S. officials for actions taken in the territory of a state party to the Rome Statute, particularly if those actions involve war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide, and the national authorities are unwilling or unable to investigate—a principle known as complementarity.
Former tech executive Stein-Erik Soelberg strangled his 83-year-old mother in Greenwich, Connecticut, in early August before taking his own life by stabbing himself in the chest and neck. The family of his mother has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging that ChatGPT worsened Soelberg’s paranoid delusions and contributed to the murder-suicide by validating his beliefs that his mother was surveilling him, plotting against him, and attempting to poison him.
In other OpenAI news, the Walt Disney Company has announced a three-year licensing agreement with the company. As part of the deal, Sora will be able to generate short, user-prompted social videos featuring more than 200 animated, masked, and creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars franchises, including iconic figures like Mickey Mouse, Darth Vader, and Iron Man.
Disney is the first major content licensing partner for OpenAI’s Sora AI video platform. The agreement includes a $1 billion equity investment by Disney in OpenAI, with Disney receiving warrants to purchase additional equity. It will enable ChatGPT Images to generate images from the same intellectual property.
On Thursday, a federal judge in Maryland ordered the immediate release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, finding that Abrego Garcia had been re-detained "without lawful authority" following his return from El Salvador, where he was wrongfully deported in March 2025 despite a 2019 court order protecting him from removal to his home country due to fears of gang violence.
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Graciela0107
I hope that the International Criminal Court ignores the US president’s request to amend its founding document. The president and his administration have used tactics that can be classified as criminal, such as the illegal deportation of undocumented immigrants to El Salvador, the death of many innocent undocumented people while held in custody and bombing boats in the Caribbean and South East Asia. And what is most aggrieving is the mafia style threats used in order to get what they want. All third grade bully style. The current state of the economy, much of which was caused by his ill-advised policies is being ignored. Lack of affordable housing and healthcare is ignored. His threats to ruin any Congressman or Senator’s career leans toward criminality. Harassment of anyone who he perceives as criticizing him is time and money wasted. It appears that the conquest of the world is more important. By ordering Ukraine to give up land and security putting Europe at risk. They would be in charge of fighting Putin with minimal help from the US. By making a deal with Israel to cheat the Palestinians of their right to its own state. By lying to the world that he alone ended 8 wars in different countries. And what is more ironic is his desire to be nominated for the Nobel Prize for Peace. My beloved country is in serious trouble!
Friday, December 12, 2025 Report this