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Back-to-back Masters champion Rory McIlroy and fellow European Ryder Cup player Jon Rahm are among the high-profile players set to compete at Trump International Golf Links from 10-13 September.

McIlroy, who will be defending the title he won last year, played a round of golf with Trump in early 2025.

Wednesday's gathering involved the US ambassador to Ireland, Edward S Walsh, hosting around 4,000 representatives from a cross section of Irish life, including politics, business, academia and the diplomatic corps, at Phoenix Park.

"There's nothing better than Irish-American friendship and I have a beautiful place over there - it's one of the best, most beautiful golf courses anywhere in the world," said Trump in his message, which was broadcast on a large screen.

"We have a place that's so top and we have the Irish Open going to be there. They call it Trump National, we sometimes use the name of the location, but it's Trump National Golf Club, and we're looking forward to it.

"We're going to have a tremendous celebration. I think I'm going to come over and I'm going to see it and watch. It'll be something very, very special."

The field at Doonbeg will also feature Irish major winners Shane Lowry and Padraig Harrington, English Ryder Cup player Tyrrell Hatton, European captain Luke Donald and Danish brothers Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard.

The president went on to highlight the close nature of the relationship between the US and Ireland.

This year's Independence Day marks the 250th anniversary of America's founding, with strong Irish connections to that historic occasion.

"Out of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, we have so many that were patriots of a place called Ireland, 11 to be exact," added Trump.

"And it was an Irishman who first read our declaration, and it was the immortal words of the American public.

"We're endowed by the creator with rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, maybe one of the most famous phrases ever.

"And to think that came from the genius of an Irish person and people. From the beginning, Irish-Americans have been an integral part of our American story."

Trump went on to acknowledge further the part played by Irish people over the generations in shaping his nation's history.

"I want to thank all the people of Ireland for their friendship and best wishes to commemorate this very proud heritage.

"You have a phenomenal heritage, 250 years the bond between the American and the Irish people is strong and will only get stronger." %!s()

But the promise of his new game, Stars Reach is a scale bigger than everything he's made before. A sci-fi MMO set in a procedurally generated universe, where every world is a sandbox composed of material that behaves according to real-world physics. Feeling playful? Freeze a lake to create an ice rink. Feeling industrious? Boil it to become steam to power machines you've constructed. Looking for something a little deadlier? Electrify a salt deposit to create chlorine gas.

While Stars Reach has an overriding story about invading aliens that will appear on planets through emergent events, forcing players to band together to save one of their instanced, procedurally generated worlds before it falls to the mysterious Cornucopia, my discussion with Koster focused on the sandbox underpinning developer Playable Worlds' MMO.

Most immediately, why bother?

"All of the game gets richer, the more the simulation underneath is present," Koster says. "That's not weird or unusual – shooters got better as the physics got better. We just think of this as an extension of that."

The main aim for the team is building a physics simulation that is consistent across all of Stars Reach's planets, Koster explains. It should "just do what you expect". The physics won't be faked in set pieces and specific places, or, as in some games, just apply to the avatar while the rest of the environment is "a cardboard stage". Achieve that and you make a coherent world that players just get because "now," Koster says, "the environment is real".

Once that consistency and reality is achieved, Koster says that players can both experiment and learn lessons that apply throughout its worlds, but it also means you can take what you know from outside Stars Reach and use it in the MMO's sandbox. Using farming as an example, Koster says "players can do things like affect the climate, set up heaters, chillers, and irrigation. You can literally reroute a river into a desert and cause the desert to bloom. Plants will grow there because the climate and the environment is different and the humidity levels and so on, and the sand will gradually turn into fertile soil."

In our demo, I watch as a player drills a hole in the bank of a mountaintop lake. As the earth gives way, the water pours out, creating an impromptu waterfall. The ground below the new cascade quickly turns to mud. While the impact here is limited, Koster recalls a time when players were trying to build a city on a planet called Gaiamar. He thought he'd add a nice pond and fountain to the centre of town, but the water features got out of hand and flooded the fledgling city – "many players didn't have reinforced basements on their home," Koster explains, "They relied on packed earth." When the water pressed up against the packed earth it turned back into mud and the walls collapsed under the weight of the houses above. Players and devs had to work overtime to dig out and rebuild the basements.

Koster compares what I'm seeing to other games where the physics are applied inconsistently, and the moment when you realise "you're able to knock a hole in the dam over here because the designer said so but can't knock a hole in the dam over there." That moment takes you out of the world because you clock that the first experience "wasn't simulated, it was a stagecraft moment. It was a set piece."

As well as heat rays, mining lasers, and cannons that shoot bolts of electricity, the simulation allows for more unusual tools, like a time gun. (Actual less-good name: Chronophaser.) Point this at anything in the world and you can rapidly age it. Marble turns to limestone, limestone to chalk, chalk to sand. Apparently, Stars Reach players use it when tunneling through mountains to lithify soft rock walls into harder materials that don't collapse under the weight of the mountains above. I would use it to rapidly age one of the space rabbits hopping about the world and study to see how it copes with the pressure of suddenly becoming the oldest bunny in the warren.

Now, I hope this isn't taken the wrong way by anyone working on Stars Reach, but for all the clever tech working away under the hood, the surface has the appearance of an MMO released in the early 2010s. So, while the game features events that sound dramatic, like a meteorite storm leaving the surface of a planet pockmarked with craters, the result might not look all that impressive. The way Koster tells it, I'm not the first one to point this out: "We've had folks see our videos and say 'What's the big deal with that crater? I dropped a nuke and Helldivers 2'". But, he explains they're "not realising the difference between a single set piece that's just an animation and actually having the power and the control to change things." When a nuke goes off in Helldivers 2, the effect is always the same, when a meteorite lands in Stars Reach it could tear a hole in the side of a reservoir, causing a flood and a crisis in the nearby town.

I realise most examples I've used so far involve water and mud, which reveals I am a simple soul whose architectural and geological learning effectively started and ended when, age eight, I spent a day building sandcastles on the beach at Eastbourne. However, the elemental interactions in Stars Reach are much, much more complex than that.

The logic underpinning Stars Reach, as with much procedural generation technology, is an early computer program called Conway's Game of Life. Developed back in 1970, the program is a turn-based simulation in which you set up the initial state of a world then sit back and watch as it plays out. The world is a simple grid and each cell in that grid can either be alive or dead, and, using four simple rules, at the end of each turn the program determines whether a cell is born, survives, or dies.

Lifted from the (actually very good) Wikipedia article on Conway's Game of Life:

1. Any live cell with fewer than two live neighbours dies, as if by underpopulation.
2. Any live cell with two or three live neighbours lives on to the next generation.
3. Any live cell with more than three live neighbours dies, as if by overpopulation.
4. Any dead cell with exactly three live neighbours becomes a live cell, as if by reproduction

If you've not seen Conway's Game of Life in action before, it's hard to imagine how that simple set up can form worlds that blossom with animated life. A small pattern of living cells can bloom into larger organisms within a few turns of the simulation beginning, or in some cases, they could lie almost dormant for hundreds of turns before colliding with another set of cells, reshaping the whole board. Go give it a play.

This all relates back to procedural generation, because by changing those four rules and randomly assigning which cells in the grid begin either alive or dead, you can create unique grids of cells that are either 'on' or 'off'. Grids that can then be read by a game engine as, for instance, rooms and corridors in a dungeon. But the main thing to take away from this is that with a stable system and a robust set of rules, you can build a self-perpetuating world.

This little diversion into computing history has a purpose, I swear. The fundamentals of Conway's simulation are behind the interaction of every cell in Stars Reach's world. As Koster sums it up: "Take Conway's Game of Life. Do it in 3D."

It's more complex than that, of course. Whereas in Conway's games, cells can only be alive or dead. Here cells can be different elements, and each element can be in a different state, and each element behaves differently in different circumstances. "Where Game of Life says, 'Oh well if I have neighbours like this I turn on, if I have neighbours like that, I turn off', we say 'Okay, we know the temperature and the humidity for each of these cells that determines which ruleset you use," Koster explains. If one cell is titanium and the other is iron, their melting points will be different, the speed at which they flow once they become liquids will be different, whether they blend with other liquids and become a new material will be different.

"The whole world is actually running one algorithm," Koster says. "The technical term for this is a cellular automata simulation. This is the stuff that Stephen Wolfram is always on about in his New Kind Of Science book, he's actually chasing after the idea that the real world, our world, works using cellular automata computation principle."

While Minecraft shares some of the same principles, there are far fewer interactions between the blocks being calculated. A more similar game, Koster says, is Nolla Games's Noita, the 2D roguelike where you're playing a wizard travelling deeper and deeper into a world where every single pixel is physically simulated. Fires burn and dry, ice forms and melts, water drowns and douses, and you must learn to use the physical properties of them all to survive in the dungeon. "That reactivity of the world is probably the closest analogy," Koster says.

Getting every element to interact correctly has taken years of work and experimentation. And when there are bugs, the procedural nature of the world can lead to a cascade of unusual problems. "We currently have a bug where silt is acting like mud," Koster says. "We're used to thinking of the word silt, as meaning loose silt at the bottom of a river. But our technical sense is that silt is actually what happens when mud is left behind and dries out." Long story short, they applied mud stats to dry soil and now there are certain biomes across Stars Reach where the ground won't stop moving – "Which is a problem," Koster says, perhaps picturing that time he collapsed an entire city's worth of basements with one water feature.

Koster has been building MMOs for decades, and he's dreamed of making a world like this before, but the physics simulation of Stars Reach wasn't possible to achieve in the past. "The CPU that we have available for simulation is something that just wasn't around back then," Koster explains. "Ultima Online ran on a computer less powerful than my Apple watch. We've had a lot of headroom open up in computing and cloud computing in particular." He says in the instanced zone we're exploring there are 270 million individual AI agents making up the landscape. Also, just to clarify, because AI is a loaded topic, we're not talking about generative AI or LLMs here, and the term agent simply means a program applying the physics rules to the chunk of world it oversees.

"Each cubic metre is inhabited by those individual agents and we're processing all of them multiple times per second in order to pull this off," Koster continues. "Then we build the environment on the fly. That required the ability to stream content over the internet fast enough. That kind of thing is what really enabled this from a technological point of view."

Though, possibly realising how technical our conversation had become, Koster ended saying "The other thing is the will, the desire to see worlds that are realer, more immersive, that offer that sense of wonder that can't just be boiled down to a strategy guide on a web page, but instead are constantly changing, and offering novelty. When you look at fictional portrayals of online worlds they take this for granted, they assume that this is what we will have. They're not about 'Let's just gather loot and level up'. Having responsive worlds that react predictably, that immersive dream is a huge part of the dream in video games."

Certainly, what I saw in that demo and the players' streams I've watched of Stars Reach since, this MMO is more than extended physics lesson. Yes, they're working together to carve up the base of giant mushroom trees just to see what will happen, but they're also building towns and transit systems, and communities. We recently updated our list of the Best MMOs on PC and we didn't add or remove a single game because the space has stagnated, so it's exciting to see a new game and one that's trying to do something decidedly different. %!s()

Speaking with CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" in Canary Wharf, Teskey said AI infrastructure, and the underlying energy requirements needed to support it, are now "the single largest theme at Brookfield today, bar none."

The firm, which invests across real estate, infrastructure, renewables and private markets, has a multi-gigawatt portfolio of data centers globally, with a growing pipeline of sites both under construction and in development.

It also co-owns and manages Canary Wharf, alongside the Qatar Investment Authority, via the Canary Wharf Group property company.

"We think there is a huge opportunity for AI in the U.K. and Europe because it is that middle ground between the United States and China. The U.K. does not have a home-grown hyperscaler, so the creation of AI infrastructure and the driving of productivity from AI is going to have different dynamics here — it's probably going to be driven more by governments than by the hyperscalers."

Brookfield launched a dedicated AI infrastructure fund anchored by Nvidia in November last year, and has also agreed dedicated AI partnerships with governments in France and Sweden.

Teskey also shrugged off concerns about an AI data center bubble.

"If you build data centers against long-term contracts with the best counterparties in the world, we think there's more to be done. We're going to bring data centers here to Canary Wharf. They're going in everywhere."

He said three key trends — soaring energy demand, greater digitalization, and the rewiring of global supply chains — now dominate the investment landscape and are creating an "immense need" for capital.

"[With] that combination of increased energy [and] the productivity benefits of AI on a global basis, we're looking at a productivity step up that makes investment incredibly attractive," Teskey added

Teskey conceded that there are pockets of froth within the current market, adding that the prevailing environment calls for increased investment discipline.

"But it's not a reason not to be excited about those big trends," he said. %!s()

Flask casts you as a financially insolvent alchemist, clawing your way out of the red by gathering and upgrading a monster crew to slay fantasy beasts for their valuable blood. Decks are formed of flasks that your recruited homunculi will quaff, in your desired order, to grant them various effects during their automatic battles; setting these potions in certain sequences will add elemental bonuses, challenging you to come up with the most potent drink menus from each ‘munc’s flask supply.

There’s also a roguelike-style structure to your blood hunts, which means Flask is a combination of at least three different genres I almost never get on with. This presents an issue, as there’s plenty else about it that intrigues. The multiplayer component, for example, takes the form of asynchronous alchemist-on-alchemist fights. Each player's homunculi team can appear as a boss encounTer to someone else, complete with their most recent flask loadout. Besting a fellow mixologist – amusingly, without their knowledge – will help you climb a game-wide blood earnings leaderboard, a reminder that we’re ultimately all just selling something to someone. Even if that something is goblin ochre.

The artwork I’ve seen, both recently and back in a hands-off demo at Gamescom last year, also manages an impressive degree of grossness. All twisted proportions, itchy textures, matted fur and hollow eyes, it is, and there’s an intentionally stiff quality to the animations that helps to reinforce the papercraft look.

Flask doesn’t have a release date yet, but if you’ve a higher tolerance for building decks than I, the demo’s up for grabs. It’s in the works at Danish developers Chop Chop Games, with help from the publishing arm of Deep Rock Galactic makers Ghost Ship. %!s()

Among the many changes to the Spéirling Pure is a new 100-kWh battery pack, which is notably larger than the 60-kWh pack that powered the prototypes. McMurtry says it had to stretch the wheelbase by nearly 8 inches to 86.6 inches to fit the bigger battery. This led to the new car's longer overall length and height. The growth spurt also contributes to a more spacious cockpit inside the newly designed carbon-fiber monocoque, which meets motorsports' safety standards around the globe.

The Spéirling's updated bodywork now includes headlights, a second hinged door, and a swan-neck rear wing that sits above a trunk that, while still small, has room for a helmet and HANS device. The driver grips an F1-style steering wheel with the instruments presented on a digital display, and there's a "fan rev" paddle for added theatrics. McMurty says it also switched from an electrically assisted steering system to a more feelsome hydraulic unit. Meanwhile, the driver's seat is a bespoke piece that's custom-molded like Le Mans prototypes, and customers can personalize the cabin with myriad options (including air conditioning).

With new torque-rich Helix drive motors, the Spéirling Pure sends 986 horsepower to the rear wheels through an enhanced transmission, and the sub-3000-pound EV can rocket to 60 mph in under 1.6 seconds, according to McMurtry. It also tops out at a claimed 190 mph, but you don't need to be going that fast to summon its 4400 pounds of peak downforce. In fact, you don't need to be moving at all. That's because its dual fans can generate insane amounts of suction at a standstill, with air being sucked from a sealed area under the car. Even if the car spins or one of the fans stops working, McMurty says the driver won't lose control and can stop more quickly thanks to the car's constant source of downforce.

The Spéirling's new fan motors have more durable blades, and the car's cooling system has been relocated to improve the center of gravity and redesigned for better efficiency. Along with a more flexible suspension and a 20 percent higher ride height, McMurtry says the production car is available with adaptive dampers and features race-grade Michelin Pilot Sport GT tires that are wider and have taller sidewalls than before. And to make loading it onto a trailer or moving around the pits easier, an onboard air compressor lets the driver raise the fan system's underbody skirt, eliminating the need for an external air bottle to pre-charge the Downforce-on-Demand system like on the prototypes.

McMurtry says the Spéirling Pure can compete in time-attack events in the United States and Europe. The automaker also claims that many racetracks have DC fast-chargers that will allow the electric hypercar to charge its battery from 20 to 95 percent in as little as 20 minutes (but it can also take up to an hour, depending on several factors). Interestingly, McMurtry says it also created a 100-kWh portable storage unit with a 120-kW output to charge the Pure any place, any time. So, how much does all of this cost? Well, its price is said to start at around $1.3 million, meaning if you're rich enough, you can park this famous fan car in your garage.

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Eric Stafford’s automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a journalism degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual '97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a '90 Honda CRX Si. %!s()