Axios Event: Top 5 takeaways from the What's Next Summit 2025

Axios held its fourth annual What's Next Summit on March 25 in Washington, D.C., spotlighting leaders shaping expectations about how we work, play and live.

• The event was sponsored by Johnson & Johnson and Bank of America.

What they're saying: The Signal leak and DOGE layoffs are making waves on Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, developments in health tech, AI and autonomous vehicles are becoming more mainstream.

Catch up quick: Here are our top five takeaways from the day …

1. The Trump administration has got to "get their act together" following the Signal leak showing senior defense officials using the app to discuss sensitive war plans, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said.

• "This isn't something that we ever use as senators. … We never would put anything classified on it," Klobuchar said of the unsecured app.

2. Sen. Tim Scott is working to increase Republicans' Senate majority by two seats in the 2026 midterms, and thinks Elon Musk's DOGE cuts will help GOP incumbents' chances of reelection.

• "We've had a healthy conversation with the president about making sure that the number of senators goes from 53 to 55," Scott said.

3. The idea of the personalized "doctor in your pocket" health tech will be a "game changer," Oura CEO Tom Hale said.

• "It's a solution to the problem that health care has, which is there are simply not enough doctors to provide enough care for all the people," Hale said.

4. Winning the AI race against China is of vast importance as the U.S. debates what regulation and copyright laws for training models will look like, OpenAI chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane said.

• OpenAI has already inked licensing agreements with several media organizations, including Axios.
• "The U.S. is competing with China [and] whoever ends up winning on that ends up building the AI rails for the world," Lehane said.

5. Autonomous vehicle technology will be commonplace in cars a decade from now, Lyft CEO David Risher predicted.

• "There will be a time, let's call it a decade from now, where buying a car without AV would be like buying a car without a radio, or without lane assist or cruise control," Risher said.

Content from the sponsored segments:

In View From the Top conversations, Lisa Lacasse, president of the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network, said partnerships are critical to ensure innovation in preventive treatments.

• "The amazing news is mortality continues to go down," Lacasse said because of medical advancements. However, "incidence rates are actually going up. … There is a lot of work to be done."

Also, David Tyrie, Bank of America managing director, chief digital officer and chief marketing officer, said customers are spending more than last year despite current economic uncertainty.

• "We see uncertainty in the economic environment," Tyrie said.
• "Their payment behavior doesn't represent what's happening over on this side, so on a payments side, our customers are paying out, using their money 6% more than they did last year.'