Shield AI on Tuesday pulled back the curtain on X-BAT, an autonomous aircraft it has for weeks teased as the future of air power.
Why it matters: It's Shield's largest airframe to date as well as its entry into the lucrative robo-wingman space.
It's also the latest application for Hivemind, a digital brain that's flown on everything from a General Atomics MQ-20 to a Kratos BQM-177A to an Airbus H145.
Elon Musk is publicly brawling with the Trump administration again — this time with Transportation Secretary and acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy.
The big picture: Musk's criticisms came as Duffy suggested this week that Musk's SpaceX was behind on its obligations to send U.S. astronauts to the moon.
Gold and silver futures plunged Tuesday, with gold in particular having its worst day in more than 12 years, after both precious metals recently ran up to record highs.
Why it matters: Investors may be coming to grips with a disconnect between the surge in the traditional safe havens and actual fundamentals.
OpenAI's new Atlas browser offers powerful new capabilities, though the combination of Web and chatbot data opens up a new world of risks related to privacy and security.
Why it matters: People are already sharing some of their most sensitive thoughts and information with ChatGPT.
American Bitcoin, the new bitcoin mining company backed by brothers Eric and Donald Trump Jr., got a nice deal recently from Bitmain, the global leader in mining equipment, according to recent filings.
Why it matters: The generous terms raised questions about preferential treatment, but it also underscores a reality — amid a booming bitcoin market, the mining business that underpins it is tougher than ever.
Meta was the top lobbying spender in the third quarter of 2025, and AI and semiconductor companies increased their quarterly spend, per federal filings.
Why it matters: Big Tech companies are still outspending companies focusing purely on AI and hardware, but the gaps are getting narrower.
Google has killed Privacy Sandbox, its yearslong effort to create an industrywide standard to replace internet-tracking cookies, after struggling to wrangle uniform acceptance.
Why it matters: Ad industry leaders have long been wary of letting Google — one of the world's biggest ad companies — dictate the future of ad targeting. And now in the AI era, Google's privacy pivot pegged to cookies is essentially moot.
Jan Gilg, chief revenue officer & president of SAP Americas and global business suite discusses how SAP's AI-first strategy weaves artificial intelligence throughout its Business Suite and turns productivity gains into measurable business growth.
The Fed is considering a new, lighter way for market participants to open an account with the central bank for access to its payments rails, according to Fed governor Christopher Waller, speaking at a conference Tuesday morning.
Why it matters: The idea is to support new payment innovations, opening the door — even if just a little — to the Fed's coveted accounts for digital-asset and fintech firms, something that until now has served as a significant moat for traditional banks.
Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern both have set Nov. 14 for shareholder votes on their $85 billion megamerger, which would create the first U.S. railroad that runs coast-to-coast.
Why it matters: This is a precursor to broader industry consolidation.
Unilever on Tuesday said it will delay the planned spinoff of its ice cream unit, including the Ben & Jerry's and Breyer's brands, because of the U.S. government shutdown.
Why it matters: It's a reminder that the D.C. dysfunction is impacting capital markets — even if the S&P 500 keeps climbing.
Warner Bros. Discovery shares popped roughly 10% Tuesday morning after the media giant said it launched a strategic review of opportunities to maximize shareholder value, including a possible sale.
Why it matters: The review, it said, comes in response to "unsolicited interest" that the company has received "from multiple parties for both the entire company and Warner Bros.," its film studio.
The New York Times on Tuesday said it will add a stand-alone destination within its main app that includes a curated mix of short-form, scrollable, vertical news videos, updated daily.
Why it matters: It's part of a broader effort by the Times to bring all of its journalism across mediums into a single, centralized destination, instead of differentiated apps.
A veteran team of advocates and wonks is launching a group to win policy changes that make clean energy "the most affordable, reliable, and fastest way to power America's economy," the group exclusively tells Axios.
Why it matters: The group is made up of former top policy and advocacy staff at the Bill Gates-founded group Breakthrough Energy.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau is moving the timing of NewFronts, its annual digital video showcase, and launching a new event around creators, CEO David Cohen exclusively tells Axios.
Why it matters: The changes mark one of the IAB's biggest rethinks of its ad marketplace events and underscore how ad buyers and sellers are adapting to earlier planning windows and the rise of the creator economy.
Ransomware gangs are already starting to embed AI into their workflows, allowing them to fine-tune and amplify attacks that have already stolen billions from U.S. corporations.
Why it matters: Most cases of cyber criminals using AI are still outliers, security responders say, but AI tools promise to accelerate the data-stealing, file-encrypting cyberattacks that have wreaked havoc across industries.
The stock market can't climb skyward forever. Returns are expected to come down to earth in coming years, says JPMorgan chief global strategist David Kelly. So investors should look to alternative investments like private equity for both a boost and a hedge against volatility.
Why it matters: Portfolio protection in the future may look more like private equity and less like Treasury bonds.
Big Tech firms are taking on more off-balance-sheet debt — loans which do not appear in standard financial statements — to finance their AI ambitions, says venture capitalist and MIT research fellow Paul Kedrosky.
Why it matters: It remains unclear how that debt will be paid back: AI isn't making money (yet), and with each new chip cycle comes costly upgrades. This financing binge could pop the AI bubble, Kedrosky tells Axios.
ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports in "Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America," out next Tuesday, that Hunter Biden was furious with former President Obama for taking President Biden's hand to lead him off the stage at a Hollywood fundraiser last year.
Why it matters: The snippet went viral, reinforcing the impression that Biden was doddering.
Over half of Gen Z smartphone users say their group chat knows more about their daily lives than their families do, according to a survey commissioned by GIF search engine Giphy.
Why it matters: These mobile social circles are becoming the new dinner table, where connections are formed and life updates are discussed.
MAGA is on a cancellation spree, targeting marquee entertainment and tech companies with boycotts over comments or content the right deems inappropriate or offensive.
Why it matters: The movement is on a crusade to "take back the culture" in a country it views as jolting to the left. Its ability to impose societal penalties on companies it views as pushing that drift will show how much heft the right's campaign has.
Newspapers owned by small, independent groups — often families or businesses invested in their local communities — are shuttering at an alarming pace compared to those owned by large investment companies, according to a new report from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism.
Why it matters: Independent newspapers are more likely to represent rural communities that are at greater risk of becoming "news deserts," or areas with extremely limited or zero access to local news sources.
Walmart is cutting the cost of its Thanksgiving meal basket to under $4 a person, $3 less than last year — with Butterball turkeys at the lowest price since 2019.
Why it matters: The world's largest retailer is lowering prices even as the U.S. faces its smallest turkey flock in decades, a flex of Walmart's scale and value strategy.
Walmart will become the first U.S. retailer to sell an over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor in physical stores, as Abbott's Lingo rolls out to more than 3,500 locations and online, the health care company told Axios exclusively Tuesday.
Why it matters: It's the latest sign that health tech is going mainstream — making tools that previously required a prescription more accessible to consumers.
China's weaponization of all-important rare earth minerals is sending the Trump administration scrambling to find new sources for the materials that power the modern world.
Why it matters: From Australia to Ukraine, and at all points in between, the U.S. position on rare earth minerals in the Trump administration is clear — get them out of the ground, at any cost, and the sooner the better.
Amazon Web Services said Monday evening cloud services had returned to normal after a daylong online outage disrupted thousands of websites worldwide, though AWS noted some services continued to have a backlog of messages.
The big picture: It's the biggest internet outage since an error at CrowdStrike caused a global meltdown that grounded flights and halted banking, leaving major platforms including Snapchat, Reddit, Duolingo and Coinbase down.
