Roundup: $100K work visa fee / Merger talks collapse / AI satellites

Talent tax: The Department of Homeland Security plans to propose a $100,000 fee for U.S. employers hiring highly skilled foreign workers through the H-1B visa program, up sharply from the current $2,000 to $5,000 cost. The administration says the fee would help cover federal immigration-administration costs, while H-1B visas remain capped at 65,000 annually plus 20,000 for U.S.-educated advanced-degree holders. The proposal follows a previous $100,000 H-1B fee imposed on workers hired from abroad, which a federal judge struck down in June. Louisiana Illuminator has the full story.

Paramount under fire: California Attorney General Rob Bonta canceled a scheduled meeting with Paramount Skydance, accusing the company of leaking and misrepresenting confidential settlement talks over its planned $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount denied being the source of the leaks and said it remains willing to negotiate in good faith to resolve the antitrust lawsuit. Bonta, who is leading 12 states in seeking to block the merger, says any settlement would require “robust structural remedies.” CNBC has the full story.

Musk’s timeline: Elon Musk says SpaceX’s first AI satellites, powered exclusively by Nvidia chips, are expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2027 and reach significant scale in 2028. The satellites will function as lower-cost, denser, lighter space-based data centers designed to handle AI computing in orbit. SpaceX is pursuing FCC approval for a constellation of up to one million satellites. Bloomberg has the full story.