Why it matters: Trump backed a plan to limit card rates to 10%, aligning himself with key Democrats who have long pursued a cap under the premise that steep rates hurt consumers.
DAVOS, Switzerland — President Trump announced on Wednesday that he will not follow through on his threat to impose tariffs on eight European allies on Feb. 1 over their opposition to his claim of Greenland.
Why it matters: Trump already dropped his threat to invade Greenland earlier Wednesday, and he's now reversed his tariff threat — which had triggered a crisis in the transatlantic alliance and rattled global markets.
Etosha Thurman, chief marketing officer for finance and spend management at SAP, explains how finance and procurement have evolved from back-office functions into strategic engines of resilience and business growth.
One of the most significant trade deals of the Trump era so far could fall apart: European lawmakers said on Wednesday that they would stop implementation of the U.S.-European Union trade deal in the wake of fresh tariff threats.
Why it matters: This is the world's new realization. A Trump trade deal means new tariffs are still an economic risk, a swift change from the agreements that underpinned the global economy in decades past.
It comes hours after President Trump's top trade negotiator told Axios that the trade deal was still intact.
Zipline raised more than $600 million in new funding and will expand its autonomous drone delivery service to Houston and Phoenix in early 2026, and more cities later in the year.
Why it matters: It's more proof that on-demand drone delivery is maturing, opening up new conveniences for American consumers.
Anthropic on Wednesday released an updated "constitution" for Claude, formalizing how the company trains its chatbot to reason about values and behavior as it encounters new, unanticipated situations.
Why it matters: As AI models grow more capable, Anthropic is betting that training systems to reason about values and judgment — not just follow guardrails — will prove safer and more durable than racing to ship faster.
It's been nearly a year since BlackRock agreed to buy ports on either side of the Panama Canal from Hong Kong's CK Hutchison — a deal that President Trump touted during an address to Congress last March.
But what if the ports aren't Hutchison's to sell?
State of play: Panama's Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on whether Hutchison breached its concession contracts, including one renewed in 2021, thus allegedly harming taxpayers and violating the country's constitution.
President Trumpcalled onCongress to cap credit card interest rates at 10% for one year, he said Wednesday during a speech in Davosat the World Economic Forum.
Why it matters: House Speaker Mike Johnson was hesitant about Trump's initial pitch, while economists and bankers warned about downsides overshadowing any positives.
DAVOS, Switzerland — President Trump praised nuclear power in a speech in front of world leaders on Wednesday — while saying he previously hadn't supported the energy resource.
Why it matters: The comments reveal a less-known position from Trump on a technology whose growth is being fueled by the AI boom.
DAVOS, Switzerland — President Trump's tussle with Europe over Greenland won't impede looming U.S. deals with those countries, Trump's Greek ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle predicted Wednesday.
Why it matters: Guilfoyle has been focused on increasing commitments from Greece and other European countries to buy American liquefied natural gas.
OpenAI is committing to "paying our own way on energy, so that our operations don't increase your electricity prices" as it develops the big Stargate data center campuses.
Why it matters: The data center boom is facing a backlash that tech giants are trying to head off.
New data captures the scope of today's U.S. solar boom — and AI could help developers swimming upstream in the Trump era's next stages.
Why it matters: "Data center demand is helping offset some political headwinds for utility‑scale solar," Wood Mackenzie analyst Kaitlin Fung tells me via email.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang predicted Wednesday that drug research will shift from traditional labs to AI platforms, with pharma giants already making the leap.
Why it matters: The industry is betting the pivot could accelerate how fast new drugs reach patients.
DAVOS, Switzerland — As Silicon Valley races to monetize AI chatbots, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis told Axios he was "a little bit surprised" OpenAI moved so fast on introducing ads in ChatGPT.
Why it matters: Hassabis, a Nobel laureate and one of the world's most influential AI leaders, said Google's Gemini assistant currently has "no plans" to incorporate ads — and cautioned that rushing advertising into AI assistants could undermine user trust.
The "Sell America" trade is in focus after President Trump has threatened to take over Greenland, leading to declines in the U.S. dollar, bonds and stocks.
Why it matters: The trade isn't being talked about because investors are so worried about that threat or because they think the American economy is crashing. It's because they think they can make more money abroad.
DAVOS, Switzerland — In a 24-hour span in the Swiss Alps, we're witnessing what future historians might mark as a hinge moment: The people building civilization-altering AI, a prime minister declaring America's global order dead, and an expansionist, defiant American president all sharing the same tense global stage.
Why it matters: It's hard to overstate the seismic shifts shaking this week's World Economic Forum in Davos.
Business leaders see AI as a path to growth, not just cost-cutting, Accenture chair and CEO Julie Sweet tells Axios.
Why it matters: Despite the what-ifs of a bubble, and real fears that the ever-evolving technology could dampen job prospects for lower-level workers, Sweet sees promise in agentic commerce (AI in retail) and other manifestations of the galloping technology.
The government's health care watchdog identified more than $19 billion in wasteful or fraudulent federal payments and possible cost savings during a span that included the first nine months of President Trump's second term, a report provided exclusively to Axios shows.
Why it matters: The Trump administration often cites rampant waste, fraud and abuse as justification for deep program cuts.
President Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room Tuesday that his affordability message has a "public relations" problem.
The big picture: While Trump prepares to talk about affordability in Davos (an elite gathering of billionaires), his Cabinet officials are on TV talking about buying 10-12 houses for retirement and feeding a family three meals a day for about $15.
At the same time, the latest polls show voters are about as discontented with him on the economy and prices as they've ever been.
President Trump's historic disputes with the press have intensified in his second term as he uses his political power to set new legal and regulatory standards that threaten the media's independence long term.
Why it matters: Policy changes and new legal standards are much harder to unwind than harassment campaigns, even with a new party in power.
