It was a historic, even jarring, scene that captures a once-unimaginable geopolitical ordering. The world's most powerful heads of state gathered in the French Alps this week for the annual G7 summit, with the CEOs of America's dominant AI companies seated and treated like heads of nation-states themselves.
Why it matters: This is the future many leaders and AI CEOs envision — heads of state and the masters of tech in constant discussion, and sometimes conflict, over who controls AI, its rules, and its application to governing and world security.
President Trump declared on "The Axios Show" on Thursday that he's discovered "no limits" to his power since going to war with Iran.
A forthcoming book reveals he's been entertaining an even grander idea: that he may be the most powerful man in history.
Why it matters: Trump is no longer merely testing the limits of the presidency. He's describing power in world-historical terms — placing himself in the lineage of conquerors, dictators and strongmen who bent nations to their will.
Juneteenth is surviving the corporate DEI backlash, even as American institutions pull back from the promises that helped elevate it.
Why it matters: The holiday's staying power shows how Black history can be absorbed into calendars, payroll systems and public rituals even as the post-2020 commitments that gave it renewed force are renamed, narrowed or abandoned.
