Axios

Shares in Meta sunk 9% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the tech giant said it planned to spend more money than initially expected on AI infrastructure costs this year.

Yes, but: Those investments do appear to be paying off meaningfully in fueling the growth of Meta's ad business.

Amazon trimmed about 2,300 Seattle-area jobs this week — including hundreds at its South Lake Union and Bellevue offices — as part of a 14,000-person global layoff that marks one of the tech giant's largest white-collar cuts to date, according to a new state filing.

Why it matters: Seattle's economy leans heavily on Amazon's highly paid, corporate workforce, whose spending fuels much of downtown's housing, retail and restaurant activity.

What's good for a new-school company can also be good for an old-school one.

The big picture: Nvidia passed $5 trillion in value Wednesday, while Caterpillar's stock soared. The burgeoning AI economy is fueling insatiable demand for the modern form of picks and shovels — the types of AI chips that Nvidia designs — and for the actual picks and shovels needed to build that new capacity.

Shares in Alphabet rose 5% in after-hours trading Wednesday, as revenue growth for YouTube and Google Cloud topped analyst expectations.

Why it matters: That top-line performance helped the company surpass $100 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time in its history.

President Trump's budget team raided three different financial accounts to make sure U.S. troops are paid Friday as the government shutdown continues, White House officials tell Axios.

Why it matters: As long as military personnel are paid, Trump isn't planning to budge on the nearly month-old shutdown, even with as many as 42 million people set to lose food stamp benefits Saturday.

Paramount on Wednesday began informing staff about long-anticipated layoffs following its merger with Skydance Media in August.

Why it matters: Executives from Skydance and RedBird Capital Partners, which helped finance the deal, have long said publicly the merger would yield synergies.

Radio Free Asia, one of several government-funded international broadcasters, announced Wednesday it would suspend operations and formally lay off its furloughed staff on Friday amid fiscal uncertainty.

Why it matters: It's the first time the outlet has gone dark since its founding in 1996. RFA was created to provide free and accurate news and information to Asian audiences following the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, and the subsequent information crackdowns in China thereafter.

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.25% on Wednesday, even as the ongoing government shutdown restricts the release of critical economic data — though Fed chair Jerome Powell threw cold water on Wall Street's bets on another rate cut by year-end.

Why it matters: It's the second straight rate cut aimed at safeguarding America's weakening jobs market, but the Fed policymakers were sharply divided, and the path of interest rates ahead looks uncertain

Not only does Lionel Messi remain Major League Soccer's highest-paid player, the Inter Miami and soccer superstar's guaranteed compensation is more than some teams, according to the latest MLS Players Association's salary guide.

Why it matters: MLS playoffs are underway, and it's time to see if teams got what they paid for this season.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise on Wednesday said Republicans are discussing several ideas that could become GOP asks for a year-end health deal once the government reopens.

Why it matters: His comments revealed some of the health proposals on the Republican side as Democrats insist on extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies at the center of the shutdown fight.

Apollo Global Management has reached a deal to sell AOL to Italian tech holding group Bending Spoons in a deal valued at roughly $1.5 billion, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: AOL still drives hundreds of millions of dollars of free cash flow.

U.S. House staffers were warned by congressional administrators Wednesday that their October paychecks will not be sent out if the government remains shut down into November, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: It is yet another painful consequence of the shutdown — and one that hits particularly close to home for the lawmakers in both parties who have dug in to their positions.

Nvidia surged at the market open Wednesday, becoming the first company in history to be worth more than $5 trillion.

Why it matters: It became the first $4 trillion company less than four months ago.

A new kind of data center built by a coalition including Nvidia aims to smooth out power use as AI demand surges.

Why it matters: Shared exclusively with Axios, the project is the first commercial rollout of software that adjusts energy draw in real time — a model the companies say can ease strain on the grid and curb electricity costs.

As cars begin to drive themselves, the onus of liability gets murkier, creating new headaches for the insurance industry.

Why it matters: More than half of all new cars in the U.S. will offer hands-free driving by 2028, according to Telemetry's 2025 Assisted and Automated Driving Forecast.

• For insurers, that means rethinking risk assessments based on whether humans or robots are driving, and writing policies that separate driver liability from that of the vehicle itself.

Zoom in: At least six companies operate autonomous vehicles in Austin.

• An Axios examination of federal data shows that Waymo autonomous vehicles were involved in at least 16 collisions in Austin between June 16 and September 15 — though the records don't indicate who was at fault in the incidents.

USAA has issued more than 90,000 no-interest loans to federal employees affected by the government shutdown, totaling about $328 million. Bank of America is offering credit deferrals and auto loans. Dozens of other banks are offering assistance.

Why it matters: Federal employees are taking banks up on the help in droves, indicating how much assistance workers are seeking after some missed their first full paychecks.

Real income growth has slowed to near-decade lows, according to a report from JPMorgan Chase Institute, with young people getting hit the hardest.

Why it matters: As a new wave of companies announce layoffs, a slowdown in income growth is yet one more sign of a softening labor market that could indicate trouble ahead for corporate America.

One of the most important real-time, real-world debates in America is whether AI causes a short-term job apocalypse among white-collar workers.

• Two developments unfolding this week show urgent reasons for acute concern:

1. Amazon announced yesterday that it's cutting 14,000 white-collar jobs. JPMorgan, Walmart and others have revealed plans to slow hiring. All cited AI. PwC, the accounting and consulting giant, cut staff globally, partly because of AI. Nestlé cut jobs, blaming automation.
2. As importantly, a 2-year-old company with a 22-year-old CEO, founded by three college dropouts, was just valued at $10 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. The San Francisco company, Mercor, pays doctors, lawyers and others to train AI so machines can perform like human professionals. This is part of a mad rush to fine-tune AI with true human expertise so it can do for free what junior employees do now — and, later, what senior ones get paid good salaries to do.

The AI industry is preparing to launch a multimillion-dollar ad campaign through a new policy advocacy group, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The new group — Build American AI — is the latest sign that the flush-with-cash AI industry is preparing to spend massive sums promoting its agenda, namely its push for federal, not state, regulation.

A slew of major companies announcing large-scale layoffs serves as a warning that the U.S. labor market, which has been in a prolonged-but-precarious balance, could be starting to tip over.

The big picture: Corporate psychology looks to be shifting, as the worker shortages of 2021 fade into memory and AI advances hold the promise of doing more with less.

A leading business group — in a report shared exclusively with Axios — is trying to jump-start efforts in Congress to cut red tape so that new AI and other projects can roll out more rapidly.

Why it matters: The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) carries considerable clout with Republicans.

OpenAI and Microsoft have solved the big details of their complicated partnership — for now, anyway.

Why it matters: The restructuring gives both companies more flexibility, but also lets them compete more effectively against each other.