Axios

Meta told staff Thursday it plans to lay off roughly 8,000 people, or around 10% of the company, two sources confirmed to Axios.

Why it matters: The cuts underscore how soaring AI costs are pressuring even the biggest tech companies to cut jobs to protect margins and reassure investors.

The Trump administration on Thursday accused China-backed actors of running "deliberate, industrial-scale campaigns" to distill and copy American frontier AI models.

Why it matters: The accusation pushes the U.S.-China AI rivalry into more confrontational territory — and could complicate President Trump's upcoming visit to Beijing.

A U.S. Navy sailor assigned to a minesweeping ship that's headed to the Strait of Hormuz was medically evacuated to his home port after he was scratched by an Asian monkey while ashore in Thailand, officials say.

Why it matters: The Navy reports that the incident did not delay the USS Chief's mission and that the sailor is OK, but officials say the attack is a reminder that military missions face unexpected troubles and disruptions that are hard to war-game for.