Axios

The 2026 midterm election is on track to be the most expensive in history.

Why it matters: So far, the money hasn't always mattered.

Tesla applied for a permit to deploy up to 5,000 robotaxis in Clark County, Nevada, but got approval from the state for just 10.

Why it matters: CEO Elon Musk has bet the company on autonomy, robots and AI, but state and federal regulators will have the final say on how quickly those ambitions are realized.

Even as U.S. policy has walled off Washington, D.C., from friends across the pond, Americans' travel overseas is reaching new heights.

Why it matters: Much like the resilient consumer, the American tourist keeps riding the post-COVID travel wave, even as debt delays life milestones and global perceptions of the U.S. slip.

Dorm rooms are tiny. The dorm decor economy is not.

The big picture: College dorms are becoming customized, social-media-ready micro-apartments, but the market looks wildly different depending on which side of the Mason-Dixon line your campus sits.

American consumers have powered the economy forward this year. In July, they took a breather.

Why it matters: While the underlying trend in consumer demand appears solid, retail sales hit an air pocket last month, suggesting a bumpier path ahead for overall growth.

• Combined with a weak jobs report last week and two subdued inflation readings this week, it points to the Federal Reserve having room to be patient on potential interest rate increases this fall.

Silver Lake and Workday are discussing a take-private of the (now) $51 billion HR software company.

Why it matters: The deal would rank among ‌the largest software buyouts in history, in a stand-out year for big-dollar M&A.

American drone companies got a sudden lift in the stock market Friday after President Trump announced plans to impose tariffs on imported drones.

Why it matters: National security experts have long bemoaned the American reliance on foreign sources for drone production, particularly China.

Disney's new documentary goes behind the scenes of a strategy the company has spent decades perfecting — translating its films for theme parks.

Why it matters: That business is becoming even more important to Disney as it aims to build higher-margin flywheels, just as consumer demand for in-person experiences is booming.

The Treasury Department this week scrapped a key part of a federal anti-corruption law that required anonymous shell companies and other firms to disclose their owners.

Why it matters: The move is the latest example of how it's becoming harder to get information about the financial system, even as the ascendance of AI makes it seemingly easier to learn anything you want to know.

Big Tech's massive data center spending binge hasn't put too much of a dent in a core gauge of corporate investing prowess.

Why it matters: This number, return on invested capital — or ROIC, to balance sheet fanboys — aims to tell investors how good a company is at making money on all the cash that it has sunk into acquisitions, equipment and plants and other capital.

Zoom in: Profit margins don't incorporate the costs of investing in factories and equipment needed to create or sustain a company. For that you need to look at returns, percentages that tell you what a business makes once you take these expenses — and in the case of AI massive expenses — into account.

A wave of top OpenAI executives — including Sam Altman's top deputy, a longtime chief operating officer and the chief revenue officer — has left in the span of a month as the company retools its leadership ahead of an expected IPO.

Why it matters: Co-founder Greg Brockman is getting more involved across every level of the company to build out a leadership team he hopes will catapult OpenAI past Anthropic in enterprise adoption, according to a source familiar with the matter.