SpaceX has committed $US2 billion ($A3 billion) to xAI as part of a $US5 billion equity round as Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup races to compete with rival OpenAI, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The investment follows xAI’s merger with X and values the combined company at $US113 billion ($A172 billion), with the Grok chatbot now powering Starlink support and eyed for future integration into Tesla’s Optimus robots, the report said.

In response to a post on X about whether Tesla could also invest in xAI, Elon Musk said on Sunday “it would be great, but subject to board and shareholder approval” – without confirming or denying the Journal report on SpaceX’s investment plans in xAI.

SpaceX, xAI and Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Reuters could not immediately confirm the newspaper report.

Despite recent controversies involving Grok’s responses, Musk has called it “the smartest AI in the world” and xAI continues to spend heavily on model training and infrastructure. 

Rugby league might be his preferred sport, but the prime minister’s diplomatic juggling skills were on show as he stood aside a Socceroos legend in Shanghai.

Attempts to lure Chinese tourists to Australia and promote the two nations’ people-to-people links were overshadowed by questions about Australia’s participation in a potential future conflict with the Asian superpower.

US defence official Elbridge Colby, who is leading a review into the AUKUS security pact, has been pushing allies such as Australia to clarify what roles they would play in a possible war.

News of the suggestion made for an awkward proposition for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday, the first full day of his six-day tour of China.

As China’s ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian watched on in stony silence, Mr Albanese played a straight bat to questions, reiterating Australia’s commitment to the status quo in Taiwan while maintaining support for the US-Australia alliance.

“It’s important that we have a consistent position, which Australia has had for a long period of time,” he told reporters at the headquarters of online booking giant Trip.com.

“Our aim of investing in our capability, and as well, investing in our relationships, is about advancing peace and security in our region.”

Mr Albanese oversaw the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Trip.com and Tourism Australia, and previewed an ad campaign to air in China starring local film star Yu Shi and Ruby the Roo, an animated kangaroo voiced by Rose Byrne.

China’s burgeoning middle class, armed with deep pockets and an appetite for travel, are key to Australia’s tourism industry, spending $9.2 billion in the 12 months to March.

While China is still Australia’s second-largest visiting tourist market, numbers have yet to recover to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.

The dramatic economic transformation China has undergone in recent decades was plain to see from Shanghai’s historic Bund promenade, where Mr Albanese strolled with ex-Socceroo Kevin Muscat, who now manages Chinese Super League outfit Shanghai Port FC.

Shanghai’s rainy season clouds parted early for the pair on Sunday morning, making way for a suffocating tropical heat that beat down on their discussion of the impact of football in fostering the two countries’ interpersonal connections.

Looking across the Huangpu River, a forest of newly-built skyscrapers in the Pudong district – surely constructed with no small quantity of Australian iron ore – gleamed in the sunlight.

“When I first came here twice in the 1990s, the area Pudong was very different indeed,” Mr Albanese said in a meeting with local Chinese Communist Party official Chen Jining.

“There were farms where there is now a great metropolis.

“The development we can see across the river is symbolic of the extraordinary development that China has seen in recent decades, lifting literally hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and creating economic benefit both for the people of China, but also increased economic engagement with countries like Australia.”

Mr Albanese will continue to emphasise the two nations’ business and sporting links during his six-day tour of China.

A keen tennis player, the prime minister will make an announcement about extending an Australian Open wildcard tournament when he visits the southwest city of Chengdu.

Sport built important people-to-people ties, as did business co-operation, Mr Albanese said.

“One in four of Australian jobs is dependent on our exports and overwhelmingly, by far the largest destination for Australian exports is right here in China,” he said.

Australia is rebuffing US calls to commit itself ahead of a future conflict with China as the prime minister declares the nation is already doing its fair share on defence.

Washington is pressing allies such as Australia and Japan to clarify what roles they would play in future wars, such as in Asia over the democratically governed island of Taiwan.

Elbridge Colby, a key Pentagon strategist, has confirmed the US is looking for allies to make clear their commitments in the event of potential conflicts.

“Of course, some among our allies might not welcome frank conversations,” he posted on social media platform X.

“But many … are seeing the urgent need to step up and are doing so.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia’s defence spending was about “advancing peace and security” in the region.

“Australia is through the AUKUS arrangements, providing considerable capacity, including increasing the capacity of the United States and the United Kingdom,” he told reporters during a visit to China on Sunday.

He maintained Australia wanted to see the status quo remain in place for Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory.

Mr Colby is leading the US review of its nuclear submarine deal with Australia under the AUKUS security agreement amid concerns not enough boats are being produced.

Acting Defence Minister Pat Conroy said “sovereignty would always be prioritised” in the nation’s decision-making.

“The decision to commit Australian troops to a conflict will be made by the government of the day, not in advance,” he said.

Australian National University expert associate Jennifer Parker said it was unlikely any federal government would give a “blanket agreement” to what the nation’s contribution might be in the event of a conflict.

“What I suspect (the US is) probably asking for is a higher level of collaboration on war-gaming and scenario planning for various scenarios in the region,” she told AAP.

“That allows allies working together … to understand how each of the countries might respond.

“It is prudent for us to be sounding out what are the boundaries of the alliance relationship and what are the expectations.”

The US is among 19 countries participating in Exercise Talisman Sabre, which began on Sunday and will involve 30,000 defence force personnel.

Mr Conroy said the exercise was expected to be closely monitored by China after the Asian power observed the last four since 2017.

“We will obviously observe their activities and monitor their presence around Australia, but we’ll also adjust how we conduct those exercises,” he said.

“People observe these exercises to collect intelligence around procedures, around the electronic spectrum and the use of communications.”

Mr Albanese landed in Shanghai late on Saturday for a six-day tour that will focus on economic and security issues.

Defence analysts have flagged Mr Albanese will likely raise live-fire drills conducted by the Chinese military off Australia’s coast earlier in the year after Beijing failed to notify authorities ahead of time.

But the government has refused to say whether the prime minister will raise the issue when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his second visit since taking the top job.

The Chinese flotilla also circumnavigated the country in a projection of power.

Football and tourism have been the focus of the prime minister’s first full day in China as questions about Australia’s participation in a potential future conflict with the Asian superpower overshadow his six-day tour.

Former Socceroo Kevin Muscat joined Anthony Albanese on a morning walk along Shanghai’s historic Bund promenade on Sunday to promote the two nations’ interpersonal links.

Now coaching Shanghai Port FC, Muscat last year became the first Australian manager to lead a Chinese Super League team to the premiership.

The former midfield enforcer has brought over a host of Australian coaching staff, including fellow ex-Socceroo Ross Aloisi, in a sign of the deepening collaboration between Australia and China on the sporting field.

A keen tennis player, Mr Albanese will also make an announcement about extending an Australian Open wildcard tournament in the southwestern city of Chengdu later in the visit.

“One of the things about Australia and China that’s so important is we build people-to-people relations and we do that by the participation of Australians here,” the prime minister said.

“Whether it be here in football, or whether it be the lead-in tournament that’s going to take place in Chengdu for the Australian Open (or) the business relationships that we have here as well.”

Looking across the Huangpu River to the towering skyscrapers on the opposite bank, Mr Albanese reflected on the phenomenal economic transformation China had undergone in recent decades.

That boom has seen no small benefit flow to Australia, whose iron ore exports helped build the Shanghai skyline and filled the federal government’s coffers.

“When I first came here in the 1990s, the area Pudong was very different indeed,” Mr Albanese said in a meeting with local Chinese Communist Party official Chen Jining.

“There were farms where there is now a great metropolis.

“The development we can see across the river is symbolic of the extraordinary development that China has seen in recent decades, lifting literally hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and creating economic benefit for the people of China but also increased economic engagement with countries like Australia.”

A burgeoning Chinese middle class, with a new found appetite for travel, has flocked to Australia in recent decades though recent tourist numbers remain below pre-pandemic levels.

To promote Australia as a travel destination, the prime minister will oversee the signing of a memorandum of understanding between online travel giant Trip.com – which owns popular bookings sites such as Skyscanner – and Tourism Australia.

He will also unveil a new tourism campaign to air in China starring local film star Yu Shi and Ruby the Roo, an animated kangaroo voiced by Rose Byrne.

Amid the positive rhetoric around Sino-Australian relations, Mr Albanese is doing his best to dodge the US-sized elephant in the room.

Military tensions were highlighted by revelations that US defence strategist Elbridge Colby has been pushing Australia and Japan to clarify what role they would play in a potential conflict with China

But acting Defence Minister Pat Conroy on Sunday reiterated Australia’s long-established stance on whether it would join the US in a war.

“The decision to commit Australian troops to a conflict will be made by the government of the day, not in advance,” he told ABC’s Insiders program.

The unusual resilience of Australia’s jobs market is expected to continue in fresh data due out this week.

Despite expectations unemployment will rise over the course of 2025, forward indicators point to more jobs growth ahead of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ labour force release on Thursday.

Economists predict the figures to show the unemployment rate held at a relatively low 4.1 per cent in June, while about 20,000 jobs are tipped to have been added to the economy.

NAB’s head of Australian economics, Gareth Spence, still expects the jobless rate to rise to 4.4 per cent by year end but signs point to a labour market still in rude health.

The bank’s monthly business survey, released last week, showed business conditions spiked nine index points while ANZ-Indeed job ads climbed to a 12-month high.

Despite the Reserve Bank surprising economists and traders by leaving rates on hold on Tuesday, Mr Spence does not expect a major negative impact on the economy, given three more cuts are still priced in by early next year.

“I think the focus for the RBA will be ensuring the labour market remains healthy going forward,” he told AAP.

“The timing of cuts is not super important. It’s more about where do they end up.”

Household spending has recovered slower than expected in the first half of 2025, as global uncertainty weighed on consumers and set back the handover from public to private demand as the main driver of economic growth.

Further cuts towards what the central bank sees as a more neutral cash rate will be needed to support consumption, Mr Spence said.

Another insight into household confidence levels will be revealed in the Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment report on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the ABS will release building activity data for the March quarter.

The number of dwellings that began construction in the last three months of the year fell 4.4 per cent to just under 42,000, well below the 60,000 a quarter needed to reach the national housing accord target of 1.2 million new homes over five years.

After trending upwards through the second half of 2024, building approvals have flatlined since January.

Wall Street investors meanwhile appear to have gone cold on US trade policy, with Meta Platforms weighing on the S&P 500 after Donald Trump intensified his tariff offensive against Canada. 

The president has ramped up his tariff assault, saying the US will impose a 35 per cent tariff on Canadian imports next month and plans are afoot to impose blanket tariffs of 15 per cent or 20 per cent on most other trading partners.

The S&P 500 declined 0.33 per cent to end the session at 6,259.75 points, the Nasdaq was down 0.22 per cent to 20,585.53 points and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.63 per cent to 44,371.51 points.

Australian share futures dropped 13 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 6,847.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday finished down 9.1 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 8,580.1, while the broader All Ordinaries dipped 6.4 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 8,820.3.

Australia has rebuffed calls to declare what role the nation would play in a potential war with China over Taiwan, with a minister saying it won’t automatically follow the US into a future conflict.

Washington is reportedly pushing both Japan and Australia to clarify their positions for a hypothetical conflict over the democratically-government island, which Beijing considers part of its territory.

Acting Defence Minister Pat Conroy on Sunday reiterated the nation’s long established stance on whether it would choose to join the US in war.

“The decision to commit Australian troops to a conflict will be made by the government of the day, not in advance,” he told ABC’s Insiders program.

“Sovereignty will always be prioritised.”

Elbridge Colby, a key Pentagon strategist, has been pressing defence officials from both countries to declare their positions in meetings over the issue, according to a report in the Financial Times.

He is also leading a US review of its nuclear submarine deal with Australia under the three-nation AUKUS partnership following concerns the plan to supply the vessels would harm the American navy.

The US will be among 19 countries participating in Exercise Talisman Sabre, which begins on Sunday and will involve 30,000 defence force personnel.

The event was the nation’s most important joint military exercise with the US, Mr Conroy said, and it was expected to be closely monitored by China after the Asian superpower observed the last four such operations.

“We will obviously observe their activities and monitor their presence around Australia, but we’ll also adjust how we conduct those exercises,” he said.

“People observe these exercises to collect intelligence around procedures, around the electronic spectrum and the use of communications.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese landed in Shanghai late Saturday, kicking off a six-day tour which will focus on economic and security issues.

Defence analysts have flagged Mr Albanese will likely raise live-fire drills conducted by the Chinese military off Australia’s coast earlier in the year after Beijing failed to notify authorities ahead of time.

The Chinese flotilla also circumnavigated the country in a projection of power.

But Mr Conroy would not be drawn on whether Mr Albanese will directly raise those concerns with Chinese President Xi Jinping when the two leaders sit down during his second visit as prime minister.

Enticing Chinese travellers to Australia will be the priority of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s tour of China.

After touching down late on Saturday with fiancee Jodie Haydon, Mr Albanese’s six-day visit to the Middle Kingdom begins in the bustling financial hub of Shanghai, where he will promote Chinese tourism to Australia.

China is the second-largest visiting tourist market to Australia, trailing only New Zealand.

In the 12 months to March, 860,000 trips were made to Australia by visitors from mainland China, contributing $9.2 billion to the domestic economy, or about a quarter of the total short-term international visitor spend.

While travel numbers have bounced back since Beijing put Australia back on its approved destination list for organised tour groups, trips still significantly lag pre-COVID-19 pandemic figures. 

More than 1.4 million Chinese travellers visited Australia in 2019.

Recovering that shortfall is crucial for businesses that are reliant on tourist spending and have suffered from lower international travel and higher input costs in recent years.

On Sunday, the prime minister will oversee the signing of a memorandum of understanding between online travel giant Trip.com – which owns popular bookings sites such as Skyscanner – and Tourism Australia.

He will also unveil a new tourism ad campaign to air in China, hoped to further promote Australia as a travel destination.

“Not only is Australia’s beef, barley, red wine and lobster the best in the world – we’re the best place in the world to come for a holiday,” Mr Albanese said.

“Expanding our tourism relationship with China will mean more jobs for Australians and a boost to Australian businesses.”

The ad will feature Chinese cinema heartthrob Yu Shi – whose acting credits include appearances in the wildly popular fantasy trilogy Creation of the Gods – and Ruby the Roo, an animated kangaroo voiced by Australian actor Rose Byrne.

The joint Australian-Chinese billing underscores Mr Albanese’s mission to boost cultural and interpersonal links, as well as economic ones.

On Sunday morning, Mr Albanese will meet with former Socceroo Kevin Muscat, who now coaches professional football outfit Shanghai Port FC – the side he led to a third Chinese Super League title in 2024.

The former midfield hatchet man has brought over a host of Australian coaching staff, including fellow ex-Socceroo Ross Aloisi, in a sign of the deepening collaboration between Australia and China on the sporting field.

President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 30 per cent tariff on imports from Mexico and the European Union starting on August 1, after weeks of negotiations with the key US allies and top trading partners failed to reach a comprehensive trade deal.

In an escalation of Trump’s trade war, the fresh tariffs were announced in separate letters to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum posted on Truth Social on Saturday.

The European Union and Mexico are among the largest US trading partners.

Trump has sent similar letters to 23 other US trading partners this week, including Canada, Japan and Brazil, setting blanket tariff rates ranging from 20 per cent up to 50 per cent, as well as a 50 per cent tariff on copper.

The August 1 deadline gives countries targeted by Trump’s letters time to negotiate a trade deal that could lower the threatened tariff levels.

The EU had hoped to reach a comprehensive trade agreement with the US for the 27-country bloc.

Three EU officials told Reuters on Saturday that Trump’s threats represent a negotiating tactic.

Trump’s letter to the EU included a demand that Europe drop its own tariffs, an apparent condition of any future deal.

“The European Union will allow complete, open Market Access to the United States, with no Tariff being charged to us, in an attempt to reduce the large Trade Deficit,” Trump wrote.

EU President von der Leyen said the 30 per cent tariffs “would disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains, to the detriment of businesses, consumers and patients on both sides of the Atlantic.”

She also said while the EU will continue to work towards a trade agreement, they “will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.”

Canada got a higher tariff rate of 35 per cent compared to Mexico, with both letters citing fentanyl flows, even though government data shows the amount of the drug seised at the Mexican border was significantly higher than the Canadian border.

“Mexico has been helping me secure the border, BUT, what Mexico has done, is not enough. Mexico still has not stopped the Cartels who are trying to turn all of North America into a Narco-Trafficking Playground,” Trump wrote.

Mexico sends more than 80 per cent of its total exported goods to the US and free trade with its northern neighbour drove Mexico to overtake China as the US’s top trading partner in 2023.

The European Union had been bracing for the letter from Trump outlining his planned duties on the United States’ largest trade and investment partner after a broadening of his tariff war in recent days.

The EU initially hoped to strike a comprehensive trade agreement, including zero-for-zero tariffs on industrial goods, but months of difficult talks have led to the realisation it will probably have to settle for an interim agreement and hope something better can still be negotiated.

The 27-country bloc is under conflicting pressures as powerhouse Germany urged a quick deal to safeguard its industry, while other EU members, such as France, have said EU negotiators should not cave into a one-sided deal on US terms.

Trump’s cascade of tariff orders since returning to the White House has begun generating tens of billions of dollars a month in new revenue for the US government. US customs duties revenue shot past $US100 billion ($A152 billion) in the federal fiscal year through to June, according to US Treasury data on Friday.

Spokespeople for Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Mexico’s Economy Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Trump Organization – US President Donald Trump’s family business – will team up with Romanian real estate developer SDC Imobiliare to build a tower block with luxury apartments in the capital, Bucharest.

“Trump Tower Bucharest will be developed in the heart of Romania’s capital, one of Europe’s most vibrant and dynamic emerging markets, bringing premium residences under the Trump brand to the region,” the companies said in a statement on Saturday.

They did not specify the location or start date for work on the tower block, which is being branded as luxury residential apartments in Romania, the region’s second-biggest economy.

Romania’s economy stalled in the first quarter amid a drawn-out political crisis and worries about a potential downturn, underperforming most of its peers in central and eastern Europe.

Romania, a European Union and NATO member state, has found itself at the centre of a dispute between Europe and the Trump administration over democratic principles after the constitutional court in December cancelled an ongoing presidential vote due to suspicions of Russian meddling, denied by Moscow.

US Vice President JD Vance has said Romania’s decision to cancel the election – in which a far-right, pro-Russian candidate was the frontrunner – based on what he called “flimsy evidence” meant Bucharest did not share American values.

The country re-ran its presidential ballot in May and centrist President Nicusor Dan won, with Trump later congratulating him on his victory.

More than a million pieces of ancient rock art have secured World Heritage status in a bittersweet listing for environmentalists and traditional custodians fearful nearby industrial activity is damaging the engravings.

The Murujuga rock art landscape in Western Australia was listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a heritage site on Friday after intense lobbying by the federal government.

“Achieving World Heritage status ensures stronger protections under Australian legislation and will allow the world to celebrate this unique cultural landscape,” Environment Minister Murray Watt said while visiting the organisation’s headquarters in Paris.

The federal environment minister was accompanied by representatives from the Western Australian government and Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation.

Murujuga contains the world’s largest, densest and most diverse collection of Indigenous rock art engravings – known as petroglyphs.

Some are estimated to be more than 50,000 years old.

They depict animals, plants and human figures and are visible due to the colour and contrast between the removed varnish layer and the underlying brighter weathered rind of the host rocks.

The site was previously put forward to UNESCO for World Heritage listing in 2023 but Australia’s application was referred back in May.

UNESCO recommended state and federal governments address concerns that nearby acid emissions, including those from Woodside’s Burrup gas hub, were degrading the art.

The peninsula in northwest WA near Karratha is home to two gas plants, a fertiliser plant and iron ore and salt export facilities.

Senator Watt recently gave provisional approval for a Woodside project on the peninsula to continue operating until 2070.

Mardathoonera woman and Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper, who was at the UNESCO meeting, welcomed the World Heritage listing but criticised the removal of recommended protections, including halting industry expansion. 

“Today, Australia rewrote the World Heritage listing in the interests of the gas industry,” she said.

Environmentalists were also concerned the Woodside project extension could cause further damage.

“The world is now watching,” Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive Kelly O’Shanassy said.

“The onus is on the Australian government to make sure the values recognised by UNESCO are not jeopardised by ongoing industrial pollution.”

WA Greens Fossil Fuels spokesperson Sophie McNeill called on the state and federal governments to reverse the draft approval for the North West Shelf extension.  

“It’s absolutely disgraceful that Labor put in so much effort to get those protections removed,” she told AAP.

Australia has 21 properties on the World Heritage list, which includes the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and the Great Barrier Reef.

UNESCO added several other sites to its list, including the Xixia Imperial Tombs in China and the Faya Palaeolandscape in the United Arab Emirates.