It’s a new year, and big changes are on the horizon.

In two weeks, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president, and a host of new policies that could deeply impact business are on the table. For years, Trump and his allies have talked about tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, new tariffs on a variety of nations, deportation of immigrants, and cutting government bureaucracy and regulatory reforms. While many of those things are likely to happen in some form, it’s unclear what will actually take place and when. But business leaders have spent the last several months (at least) preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

Outside the political realm, the final days of 2024 and the first days of 2025 have seen some major changes. The proposed $15 billion sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel was stopped by President Joe Biden last Friday, keeping the company in U.S. hands, but, according to U.S. Steel, leaving its future in question. The decision, the company says “has sacrificed the future of American steelworkers for [Biden’s] own political agenda.” (Trump has said he also opposes the sale.) The deal, which Biden rejected for national security reasons, may damage future investments and business plans with foreign allies, analysts have said. U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel jointly filed two lawsuits on Monday morning over the rejected deal, asking the court to set aside Biden’s blocking order and the federal government’s review process, and accusing the U.S. Steel union president and competing steelmaker Cleveland Cliffs of “anticompetitive and racketeering activities” to prevent any party other than Cleveland Cliffs from buying U.S. Steel.

Large retailers are also seeing big transitions. Closeout retailer Big Lots announced it was going out of business after a planned acquisition failed, but days later Gordon Brothers Retail Partners, which was handling its sale, kept the chain alive by acquiring all of its assets and quickly reselling some of them. And the Nordstrom family succeeded in buying a controlling stake in the $6.25 billion retailer, which will go private following 53 years as a public company.

What else is in store for business this year? Surely there will be more deals and losses, stock market ups and downs, successes and bankruptcies. We’ll be watching it together, and Forbes CEO will continue to bring you all the news and trends decision-makers like you need to know.

Generative AI has brought sweeping changes to businesses in many industries, using technology to change how work is done. As the technology continues to develop and improve and companies work toward implementing it, generative AI promises to continue to reinvent business. I talked to Scott Belsky, Adobe’s chief strategy officer and executive vice president of design & emerging products, about what AI technology will likely do in 2025. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter.

Traders work on the New York Stock Exchange floor on the first day of trading of 2025.

While 2024 was a banner year for the stock market, 2025 is off to a much slower start.

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