Automakers and suppliers in search of a lucrative side hustle are dabbling in AI, energy and defense as a way to offset stagnant growth in vehicle sales.
Why it matters: Carmakers have tried the diversification game before — but today's economic and technological shifts may give those efforts more staying power.
Nissan, the company that pioneered mass-market electric vehicles with the original Leaf in 2010, is betting on hybrids to help propel its turnaround effort.
Why it matters: U.S. consumers are hungry for hybrids, but Nissan has largely sat out the segment in its biggest market.
New reports underscore how electric vehicle sales are rising globally even as they've dropped sharply in the U.S. — and how the Iran war could lead even more people to buy them.
Why it matters: EVs help displace oil use and lower emissions. Petroleum price spikes from the Iran war appear to be boosting sales in some places, too.
Washington, D.C.; Irvine, Calif.; and Minneapolis, Minn. have the country's best city park systems, per the Trust for Public Land's new rankings.
TPL's annual report ranks the 100 most populous U.S. cities' park systems relative to one another based on five categories: access, acreage, amenities, equity, and investment.
Driving the news: D.C. once again took home top honors thanks to its high scores for investment and access, with nearly all residents within a 10-minute walk of a park.
It's now been in the top spot for six years running.
Chicago is back in the top 10, "pulling narrowly ahead of Denver on increased investment and several creative park projects, such as converting a vacant lot into a community plaza and roller rink."
Zoom in: Texas is a bright spot, too.
Irving, a Dallas suburb, rose 28 spots in the rankings from last year. Ft. Worth rose 14 spots, while Austin and Frisco are both up 7 spots.
TPL credits Texas' gains to new parks and big investments, plus agreements letting people use school playgrounds and ballfields after hours and on the weekend.
Yes, but: Cities' inflation-adjusted parks and rec spending rose just 2% in fiscal 2025, TPL found, down from 7-8% in each of the prior two years.
That comes as pandemic-era federal aid is running dry, straining cities' budgets.
What they're saying: "For all of us that love parks and know parks and know green space, and how important it is to health and mental health and kids and all those things, it is concerning to us, and it's counter to public sentiment around parks and green space," TPL president and CEO Carrie Besnette Hauser tells Axios.
Parks return $3 in economic benefit for every $1 invested, Besnette Hauser adds, pointing to new TPL research accompanying this year's report.
Some of that work — including an effort to repaint the Reflecting Pool — has been controversial with locals, historians and Trump critics.
The bottom line: Parks are "places of real joy," Besnette Hauser says — adding that their green spaces, trails and benches give us all a chance to meet and connect with different kinds of people.
"Parks bring us together in a world and a society right now, in a country that is so — people are so at odds with each other."
Investors went on a stock-buying binge earlier this month, even as inflation worries increased, finds the latest release of Bank of America's influential global fund managers' survey.
Why it matters: The outsize optimism helps explain the run-up in stock prices over the past few weeks.
All 50 states have average gas prices above $4 a gallon, AAA said Wednesday, with seven now topping $5 a gallon.
Why it matters: As the war with Iran approaches the three-month mark, soaring fuel prices are costing Americans millions of dollars a day, crushing small business profits, and driving a surge in inflation.
The Trump-class battleship, the first of which is estimated to cost more than $17 billion, will be nuclear-powered, according to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle.
Why it matters: The pronouncement ends months of debate about how — and how fast — the battleship will get around.
Navy leadership as late as the end of April described nuclear propulsion as "unlikely." Specs first published months ago have been in flux.
Corporations are poised to buy more clean energy this year than ever before, driven by the AI boom and a rush to secure expiring tax credits, according to a new report shared exclusively with Axios.
Why it matters: The surge underscores the enduring influence of corporate demand on the clean energy market — and the resilience of cleantech investment even after President Trump rolled back federal support.
Energy security is the invisible force that keeps daily life running, but reliable energy is at risk.
Why it's important: All industries, including business, manufacturing and agriculture are affected by the availability and cost of energy inputs underpinning their operations.
The NextEra-Dominion merger plan signals the rapid evolution of the U.S. power landscape marked by rising demand, rising bills, and AI's voracious needs.
Why it matters: There are a lot of wild stats around NextEra acquiring the smaller (but still very big) Dominion, but this one is especially eye-opening in the AI data center age:
The company would have a pipeline of over 130 gigawatts of "large load" customers — with data centers a big part — looking to come online by 2032.
