Insured losses from the Los Angeles wildfires now appear likely to fall in a range of $35 billion to $45 billion, analytics firm CoreLogic said Friday.
Why it matters: At the high end of the range, and even adjusting for inflation, it would be one of the top five costliest natural disasters in world history by insured loss.
The Federal Reservesaid on Friday that it will quit a group dedicated to addressing the risk climate change poses to the global financial system.
Why it matters: The Fed's exit from the coalition suggests a huge pivot underway relative to years past. As President-elect Trump readies to take office, it is more obvious than ever that the political winds have shifted.
Here's what's new on Peacock, Apple TV+, Netflix, Max, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+ and Prime Video.
What we're watching: A docuseries chronicling "Saturday Night Live" over the decades, a new season of "Severance," and Cameron Diaz's first film appearance since 2014.
The nation's largest crypto exchange, Coinbase, endorsed the idea of a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve Friday, part of a wide-ranging blog post on "economic freedom" from CEO Brian Armstrong, shared in advance exclusively with Axios.
Real estate mogul Frank McCourt, who is trying to buy TikTok's U.S. arm, reiterated his investor group's ability to make a deal and still comply with the Supreme Court's ruling on Friday.
Why it matters: Billionaire McCourt says he has the money and the technology to keep TikTok running on American phones.
Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Gracie Abrams and a host of other music acts will headline the FireAid benefit concerts later this month in Inglewood, California, in response to the Los Angeles County wildfires.
Why it matters: All proceeds from FireAid on Thursday, Jan. 30, will go toward short-term relief efforts and long-term initiatives to prevent future fire disasters.
If capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell, as former astronaut and Eastern Airlines CEO Frank Borman famously put it, then the U.S. over the past decade or so has been a joyous church indeed.
Why it matters: We're now beginning to see signs that the days of very few bankruptcies might be coming to an end, thanks in large part to the Fed.
A majority of Americans across nearly all demographic groups said DEI initiatives have made no impact on their personal careers, according to a newly released Harris Poll/Axios Vibes survey.
Why it matters: Republican lawmakers and activists have vilified DEI, a term for diversity, equity and inclusion policies used by employers. Companies have responded by rolling back programs.
The number of public electric vehicle chargers doubled over the last four years, driven by a combination of increased private investment and a surge in government funding under the Biden administration.
Why it matters: EVs and charging have been a chicken-and-egg-problem that's now getting a little easier.
Mark Zuckerberg is living his best life in the Trump 2.0 era, despite the President-elect's campaign threat to jail him.
The big picture: Zuckerberg has spent the post-election months cozying up to Trump, including through a Mar-a-Lago visit and $1 million inauguration donation.
LOS ANGELES — Elon Musk and his allies are waging a ruthless information war in California, sensing opportunity in the ashes of the most destructive wildfires in state history.
Why it matters: For decades, Republicans have tried and failed to end Democrats' near-monopoly on power in the nation's most populous state. This time, they insist, the conditions are ripe for a reckoning.
Chinese AI makers have learned to build powerful AI models that perform just short of the U.S.'s most advanced competition while using far less money, chips and power.
Why it matters: American policies restricting the flow of top-end AI semiconductors and know-how to China may have helped maintain a short U.S. lead at the outer reaches of the AI performance curve — but they've also accelerated Chinese progress in building high-end AI more efficiently.
Apple is suspending its new artificial intelligence feature summarizing alerts for news and entertainment apps after facing complaints from news outlets and press freedom groups about generating false and inaccurate information.
Why it matters: The BBC lodged an official complaint after the Apple Intelligence summaries generated an inaccurate headline of a report by the British outlet that incorrectly represented a report on Luigi Mangione, the suspect in last month's killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, by suggesting he had committed suicide.
China's leader Xi Jinping is sending a top envoy to attend President-elect Trump's inauguration in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Beijing confirmed.
Why it matters: The "unprecedented" deployment of Xi's special representative, Vice President Han Zheng, is intended to reduce tensions with the U.S. after Trump threatened to impose major tariffs on China and other countries, per the Financial Times, which first reported the news.
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