Axios

Generative artificial intelligence is all the rage in startup-land, and corporate venture capital investors don’t want to be left out.

State of play: A small but growing number of companies’ venture arms are rolling out efforts, in various forms, that are focused on investing in the current AI startup boom.

Car batteries are like wine fridges: They're never big enough. That's a real problem for anybody who hopes that electric vehicles will help decarbonize the planet and reduce pollution.

Why it matters: EVs are extraordinarily heavy, and the larger their batteries, the heavier they become. That makes them more dangerous, increases pollution, minimizes decarbonization, and locks in a geopolitically fraught reliance on China.

Negotiating to raise the debt ceiling is a dangerous game, because there's always the possibility that the negotiations will fail. If they do, the government could continue borrowing regardless — and put the debt ceiling permanently in the rear-view mirror.

Why it matters: President Biden has a constitutional obligation to continue borrowing money to service the outstanding national debt and make other payments mandated by Congress. By allowing the national debt to rise above the level set by the debt ceiling, Biden would be obeying that obligation and effectively preventing all future debt standoffs.

This is a chart you almost never see — and it helps explain why active fund managers like Cathie Wood were very unlikely to be overweight Nvidia going into the current rally.

Between the lines: The general rule of successful tech stocks is that they start out with high PE ratios as investors hope for future growth, and those ratios then fall as earnings rise.

Even as travelers gripe about sky-high ticket prices, air travel — especially the international variety — is way up as we head into summer.

The big picture: With COVID-19 restrictions largely a thing of the past, travelers are itching to dust off their passports.

The stock market's top story this past week — aside from the will-they, won't-they debt ceiling drama — was a gargantuan earnings report from chipmaker Nvidia.

The big picture: Huge numbers from its AI-centric data center unit catapulted its shares, which have trounced both the overall market and the largest names in corporate America over most of the last decade.

Ford's unexpected embrace of Tesla's charging technology dramatically escalates the battle for the future of electric vehicle (EV) charging — the next great Lightning vs. USB-C or VHS vs. Betamax-style standardization war.

Why it matters: EVs won't go mainstream until refueling them is as simple as filling up a gas-powered car.

Tens of thousands of real estate agents are giving up on the profession, thinning their pandemic-era ranks as the housing market comes back to earth.

Why it matters: Realtors are on the ground floor of the real estate market, making them well positioned to notice when it's cooling off, thus providing less opportunity to cash in.

Economic data released on Friday show a pickup in consumer spending, alongside persistent inflation, which suggests the Federal Reserve might not yet be done with its rate-hiking campaign.

Why it matters: Demand across the economy is still hotter than policymakers would like.

The perennial question in cryptocurrency is: what is it actually good for? How about downtown revitalization.

Driving the news: One native of Pittsburg, Kansas, dumped his 2020 stimulus check into dogecoin, multiplied his money 10 times over and bought an abandoned building downtown.

• Since then, the project has expanded to rehabbing three empty buildings in the downtown area, just ahead of the arrival of a major new tenant nearby.

Catch up fast: Ian Youvan is a 2017 graduate of Pittsburg State University. The freelance designer and side hustle expert learned about the local land bank, which put his eye on a large building that was available for only $12,000.

• Previously, it had been a hotel, a grocery distribution center and a sheet metal fabricator. Lately, it's just been full of junk.
• Youvan also been interested in cryptocurrency ever since the 2017 crypto boom, but he didn't have the patience to figure out how to get access to it. Not until Robinhood enabled crypto trading in 2018.

What he's saying: "I saw Marc Cuban and Elon hyping it and I was like: ' This s--- is so cheap,'" Youvan told Axios in an interview. "The funny thing is I got my [COVID] stimulus check and this was like a free roll."

• If he lost it all, it was no loss to him; but if it helped him cover his big real estate play, it would be amazing. Little did he realize he would get 100%.
• He actually threw in a couple hundred dollars of his own money on top of the check from D.C. Because he already knew what he wanted, he told himself that he'd sell as soon as his DOGE bag hit $12,000 — if it did.

Timeline: He took possession of the building summer 2021. As soon as he got the building, there was literally tons of junk that had to be cleared out.

Zoom in: A long-time tinkerer with autos and metal products, he originally just wanted the space for a large workshop.

• He didn't have an idea for the upper floors at first, but now they are crucial as the idea has since gotten much bigger.
• Youvan told Axios that he's since been able to bring in business partners. He invested alongside them, and together they are redeveloping three buildings downtown, including the one next door to the one he bought.
• The plan is to fill the upper stories with 10 apartments for young professionals and the first floor with medium-term office space and the like.
• They are considering putting in a food hall if they can get the funds together.

Timeline: Youvan said it would have taken years to do on his own, but with the new business partners, he should be ready to lease space this year (work was buzzing all over when Axios visited).

By the numbers: Pittsburg is a city of around 20,000 people in the southeast corner of Kansas. The downtown runs maybe 10 blocks or so long.

• There's so much parking.

The upshot: The timing is looking very good with the local university announcing plans this year to relocate its business school down the street, which should mean a giant increase in downtown activity.

The intrigue: Youvan is a long way from a crypto diehard.

• While he joked about calling the space Hotel Doge for a while, he's moved on to Town Talk Studios, named after a historic local brand.

What he's saying: "Crypto is a weird thing to me. I feel like it has so much potential, but I don't see the utility in it until I can buy my smoothie with some dogecoin, what's the point?" he said.

• Youvan's the first to admit that his DOGE purchase wasn't especially idealistic. It was a long shot to make some money, and it worked.

Yes, but: He's also not completely out of crypto. "I buy it every day. Right now I just buy SHIB. I just have my Robinhood spend like $2 a day," he said.

Bottom line: His friends followed him into dogecoin, but it was too late. They held on too long and ended up losing money. "The biggest thing I've learned is don't get greedy," Youvan added. "Sell."

California's state senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a ban on fossil fuel investments by the pension funds representing state employees and state teachers.

Why it matters: CalPERS and CalSTRS are the country's two largest state pension systems, with around $768 billion in combined assets under management.

Want intense mango and a touch of jalapeño in your steak sauce? A new machine from Kraft Heinz will let us mix custom-flavored ketchups (and other condiments) the way we do sodas at Coca-Cola Freestyle dispensers.

Why it matters: Concocting a food or drink at a machine like this is fun — and gives lots of data to the manufacturer, which can then go create products that conform to popular flavor combos.

The share of foreign-born workers in the U.S. labor force reached a record high last year, per new data from the Labor Department.

Why it matters: With more Americans aging out of the workforce than entering into it — and at a time of labor shortages — immigrants are playing an increasingly crucial role in the labor market.

Setting aside whether the U.S. actually ends up defaulting on its debt, Washington's hyper-partisan approach to the basic functions of government — like paying debts — could effect America's reputation as a borrower.

Why it matters: If another credit ratings agency strips the U.S. of its AAA rating — which S&P did after the 2011 debt ceiling fight — it could have ripple effects in the bond market that are tough to predict.