KABUL/PESHAWAR: The Taliban have rejected Kabul’s offer of talks next month in Saudi Arabia where the militants, fighting to restore strict Islamic law in Afghanistan, will meet US officials to further peace efforts, a Taliban leader said on Sunday.
Representatives from the Taliban, the United States and regional countries met this month in the UAE for talks to end the 17-year war in Afghanistan.
But the Taliban have refused to hold formal talks with the Western-backed Afghan government.
“We will meet the US officials in Saudi Arabia in January next year and we will start our talks that remained incomplete in Abu Dhabi,” a member of the Taliban’s decision-making Leadership Council told Reuters. “However, we have made it clear to all the stakeholders that we will not talk to the Afghan government.”
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also said the leaders of the group would not talk to the Afghan government.
The militants have insisted on first reaching an agreement with the United States, which the group sees as the main force in Afghanistan since US-led forces toppled the Taliban government in 2001.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict have intensified after Taliban representatives started meeting US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad this year. Officials from the warring sides have met at least three times to discuss the withdrawal of international forces and a cease-fire in 2019.
But the United States has insisted that any final settlement must be led by the Afghans.
According to data from the NATO-led Resolute Support mission published in November, the government of President Ashraf Ghani has control or influence over 65 percent of the population but only 55.5 percent of Afghanistan’s 407 districts, less than at any time since 2001. The Taliban say they control 70 percent of the country.
A close aide to Ghani said the government would keep trying to establish a direct line of diplomatic communication with the Taliban.
“Talks should be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned,” the aide said on condition of anonymity. “It is important that the Taliban acknowledge this fact.”
US President Donald Trump has announced a pullout of American troops from Syria, a decision that prompted the resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis, and there have been reports that he is considering a partial pullout from Afghanistan.
Taliban dismiss Afghanistan’s peace talks offer
Taliban dismiss Afghanistan’s peace talks offer
- The Taliban have refused to hold formal talks with the Western-backed Afghan government
- Representatives from the Taliban, the US and regional countries met this month in the UAE for talks to end the 17-year war in Afghanistan
Nvidia expands AI empire with Groq talent grab
- Under an agreement, Groq founder Jonathan Ross and other team members will join Nvidia to help develop and scale the Groq’s technology
- Nvidia’s domination of the AI training chip market has made it the world’s biggest company by market valuation, but it faces increasing competition
SAN FRANCISCO, California: Nvidia has hired the leadership of a promising AI chip startup, a statement said Wednesday, as the artificial intelligence giant expands its tech empire.
Chip maker Groq said the departure of its top executives was part of a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Nvidia for its inference technology, as both companies seek to expand access to low-cost AI processing.
Under the agreement, Groq founder Jonathan Ross and president Sunny Madra, along with other team members, will join Nvidia to help develop and scale the Groq’s technology.
Nvidia’s domination of the AI training chip market has made it the world’s biggest company by market valuation, but it faces increasing competition in the inference segment from specialized startups like Groq.
AI inference refers to the process of running pre-trained AI models to make predictions or generate responses — such as when ChatGPT answers a user’s question or when an image recognition system identifies objects in a photo.
Groq will remain an independent company under new chief executive Simon Edwards, the firm said in a short statement.
The release of the statement shortly followed a report by CNBC that Nvidia was buying Groq outright for $20 billion, though a source close to the matter told AFP that no sale had taken place.
The arrangement resembles an “acquihire” — a practice increasingly common in Silicon Valley where larger tech companies poach key staff from smaller firms, leaving a small remnant of the company behind.
The practice is largely designed to evade the scrutiny of competition regulators that have become skittish about tech giants snapping up promising companies that stand a chance of becoming rivals.
Recent examples include Microsoft’s deal with AI startup Inflection AI in 2024, which saw co-founder Mustafa Suleyman and much of the team join Microsoft while the company remained independent.
Google has also made similar moves, bringing on teams from AI startups like Character.AI in 2024.
Meta’s 2025 deal to invest $14.3 billion in Scale AI and hire its CEO, Alexandr Wang, to lead its new “superintelligence” AI lab is considered one of the biggest acquihires yet.
