Musk: Grok's programming skills will surpass Claude's in June.

The post Cashing In On University Patents Means Giving Up On Our Innovation Future appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. “It’s a raid on American innovation that would deliver pennies to the Treasury while kneecapping the very engine of our economic and medical progress,” writes Pipes. Getty Images Washington is addicted to taxing success. Now, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is floating a plan to skim half the patent earnings from inventions developed at universities with federal funding. It’s being sold as a way to shore up programs like Social Security. In reality, it’s a raid on American innovation that would deliver pennies to the Treasury while kneecapping the very engine of our economic and medical progress. Yes, taxpayer dollars support early-stage research. But the real payoff comes later—in the jobs created, cures discovered, and industries launched when universities and private industry turn those discoveries into real products. By comparison, the sums at stake in patent licensing are trivial. Universities collectively earn only about $3.6 billion annually in patent income—less than the federal government spends on Social Security in a single day. Even confiscating half would barely register against a $6 trillion federal budget. And yet the damage from such a policy would be anything but trivial. The true return on taxpayer investment isn’t in licensing checks sent to Washington, but in the downstream economic activity that federally supported research unleashes. Thanks to the bipartisan Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, universities and private industry have powerful incentives to translate early-stage discoveries into real-world products. Before Bayh-Dole, the government hoarded patents from federally funded research, and fewer than 5% were ever licensed. Once universities could own and license their own inventions, innovation exploded. The result has been one of the best returns on investment in government history. Since 1996, university research has added nearly $2 trillion to U.S. industrial output, supported 6.5 million jobs, and launched more than 19,000 startups. Those companies pay…

Spur Protocol Daily Quiz February 21 2026: Today’s Correct Answer and How to Earn Free In-App Tokens The Spur Protocol Daily Quiz for February 21, 2026, is

The post Big U.S. banks cut prime rate to 7.25% after Fed’s interest rate cut appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Big U.S. banks have lowered their prime lending rate to 7.25%, down from 7.50%, after the Federal Reserve announced a 25 basis point rate cut on Wednesday, the first adjustment since December. The change directly affects consumer and business loans across the country. According to Reuters, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America all implemented the new rate immediately following the Fed’s announcement. The prime rate is what banks charge their most trusted borrowers, usually large companies. But it’s also the base for what everyone else pays; mortgages, small business loans, credit cards, and personal loans. With this cut, borrowing gets slightly cheaper across the board. Inflation still isn’t under control. It’s above the 2% goal, and the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs remains uncertain. Fed reacts to rising unemployment concerns Richard Flynn, managing director at Charles Schwab UK, said jobless claims are at their highest in almost four years, despite the Fed originally planning to keep rates unchanged through the summer. “Although the summer began with expectations of holding rates steady, the labor market has shown more signs of weakness than anticipated,” Flynn said. Hiring has slowed because of uncertainty around Trump’s trade policy. Companies are hesitating to add staff, which is why job growth has nearly stalled. As fewer people are hired, spending starts to shrink. And that’s when things start to unravel. That’s what the Fed is trying to get ahead of with this rate cut. The cut also helps banks directly. Lower rates mean more people may qualify for loans again. During the previous rate hikes, lending standards got tighter. Now, with cheaper credit, smaller businesses could get approved again. If well-funded businesses feel confident, they may hire again. That could eventually help the consumer side of the economy bounce back, but that’s…