Axios CEO Jim VandeHei was going to pop this in his members-only C-Suite newsletter tomorrow. But it's too hot to hold. If you're a CEO or top exec, request FREE admission here.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is scheduled to walk into the West Wing today for a meeting with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles — a breakthrough in his effort to resolve the company's bitter AI fight with the Pentagon.

Why it matters: The Trump administration recognizes the power of Anthropic's new Claude model, Mythos, and its highly sophisticated — and potentially dangerous — ability to breach cybersecurity defenses.

• "It would be grossly irresponsible for the U.S. government to deprive itself of the technological leaps that the new model presents," a source close to negotiations told us. "It would be a gift to China."

Reminder: Anthropic is suing the Pentagon for blacklisting the company after Amodei refused to allow his AI to be used without restrictions.

• Some parts of the U.S. intelligence community, plus the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA, part of Homeland Security), are testing Mythos. Treasury and others want it.

♟️ Behind the scenes: After Anthropic took the administration to court, negotiations with the Pentagon chilled. But Anthropic has hired key Trumpworld consultants — so expect a deal. Today's meeting is designed to pave the way.

Flashback: This is the second time Amodei has held a high-stakes meeting with a top Trump official this year.

• In late February, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Amodei until the end of the week to accept the Pentagon's terms, or else. Anthropic didn't.
• Since then, the Pentagon and Anthropic have been locked in a legal and political feud. Some in the administration think the fight is growing counterproductive.
• Share this story ... Go deeper: Trump officials negotiating access to Anthropic's Mythos despite blacklist.

Axios' Brittany Gibson goes behind the scenes of the White House's new approach to its deportation campaign:

The Trump administration is discarding its shock-and-awe publicity tactics on immigration after mass deportations were met with mass backlash.

• Why it matters: The White House has become allergic to the edgy memes, embedded camera crews and cosplaying officials that dominated former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's tenure.

A former DHS official said "cooler heads have prevailed" in the White House, including chief of staff Susie Wiles and her outgoing deputy, James Blair.

• Other White House staffers, including deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, have pushed DHS into some of the confrontations that tanked public opinion.

👀 Between the lines: The former agency official told Axios that last year, "there was a priority on people seeing the enforcement actions."

• "Some of the law enforcement actions you see, even if they're hardened criminals, it can be hard optics," the ex-official said. "They can be hard to stomach when you're seeing really physical altercations."

📊 The administration realizes its polling numbers have fallen on immigration enforcement.

• New DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin's first press stop (in business attire) was to promote FEMA's efforts in North Carolina.

The latest: White House Border Czar Tom Homan, who was called in to become more involved with ICE's operations, said he's working on plans to change the agency's social media presence.

• Share this story.

Supreme Court justices are breaking from their usual discreet decorum and openly trading barbs, Axios' Josephine Walker writes.

• Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson critiqued the court's conservative justices for issuing emergency orders allowing roughly two dozen of President Trump's policies to take effect after lower courts blocked them.
• Sotomayor issued an extraordinary public apology to Justice Brett Kavanaugh for her "inappropriate" comments about his views in an immigration-related case.
• Justice Clarence Thomas slammed progressivism as an existential threat to America's founding principles in a speech this week, adding that "cynicism, rejection, hostility and animus" grip America.

🔮 What's coming: The conservative-majority court still has to decide landmark cases on voting rights, birthright citizenship and executive powers of the president — cases that could redefine American life for generations.

• Share this story.

Axios' Russell Contreras makes sense of head-turning new data:

Gallup polling shows an uptick in religious fervor among young men, even as overall U.S. levels remain near historic lows.

• Why it matters: Gen Z still has the highest share of religiously unaffiliated adults in modern history. But small hints of a religious rebound could offer clues about the future of politics and culture wars.

📈 The poll found 42% of young men aged 18 to 29 now say religion is "very important" in their lives — up from 28% just a few years ago.

• The uptick reverses a long-standing gender gap: "One of the truisms in American social science has been" that women were more religious than men, Gallup senior scientist Frank Newport, an author of the report, tells Axios.

Reality check: An Axios review of other recent surveys showed slight increases in reported church attendance among Gen Z men, but little to suggest they're driving a "revival" like the post–World War II religious boom.

• Explore the data ... Share this story.

The nationwide AI buildout boom is separating the friendliest states from the most resistant, with Texas and Maine on opposite ends, Axios' Maria Curi writes.

🟢 Texas, with its low electricity prices and abundance of land, is drawing a wave of data center investment.

• Texas has 212 operating data centers as of 2024, and 651 have been announced. 157 are under construction, beating Virginia.
• The state offers one of the nation's most generous tax incentives, worth more than $1 billion annually.

🔴 Maine is moving the other way. The nation's first statewide moratorium on new data center construction is headed to the desk of Gov. Janet Mills (D). It's unclear whether she'll sign it.

• The temporary ban would give a state council 18 months to assess the approach.
• Share this story.

Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, 65, says he'll leave the board when his current term expires in June.

• Why it matters: Hastings' investments in tech, and shrewd licensing strategy, helped make Netflix one of the most profitable subscription streamers in the world today, Axios' Media Trends expert Sara Fischer writes.

Hastings said: "My real contribution at Netflix wasn't a single decision; it was a focus on member joy, building a culture that others could inherit and improve, and building a company that could be both beloved by members and wildly successful for generations to come."

• Share this story.

After Jack Dorsey's payments company Block announced in February that it was cutting staff by 40%, leaders across the corporate world messaged Block's execs to ask "for the playbook on how they might replicate such sweeping cuts," The Wall Street Journal reports.

• The Journal calls this the "mega-layoff" era: "In Silicon Valley and beyond, companies that are cutting staff are doing it with a big ax. Instead of laying off people in more incremental — and less disruptive — waves, employers are seizing on the potential financial upsides of severing swaths of their workforces at once."
• Keep reading (gift link).

Dana Bash — CNN anchor and chief political correspondent — will be out Sept. 22 with "The Elections That Changed the World: Fifteen Pivotal Moments That Shaped How We Live."

• Why it matters: The book traces "the most crucial elections in history, from the throes and uprisings of Ancient Rome to the modern-day political climate that put today's leaders in power," the publisher says in the book announcement.

Bash argues elections "can usher in economic prosperity, fresh solutions for calcified problems, and new policies that improve the lives of citizens everywhere" — but also "war, resource scarcity, and a loss of values once held dear."

• This is Bash's second dive into pivotal moments in electoral history. Her first, "America's Deadliest Election," was a New York Times bestseller.
• Keep reading: The cover story of April's issue of Modern Luxury DC is "The Bash Standard."