The backlash over diversity, equity and inclusion programs (DEI) is sharpening in politics, business and academics, Axios' Erica Pandey reports.

• Why it matters: Diversity programs are being cut in business, pummeled by Republicans in politics and ridiculed in academics where donors have pulled millions.

"I'm seeing a new trend," said Joelle Emerson, CEO of the DEI consulting firm Paradigm. "Those critiquing DEI aren't just the extreme, right-wing anti-progress activists."

• "They're also liberal-leaning people who are likely values-aligned with DEI in principle, but confused and misguided about what the work looks like in practice."

🖼️ The big picture: College DEI programs support historically underrepresented students and faculty members, including people of color, people with disabilities and veterans.

• Critics have argued for years that these programs make universities overly sensitive to only certain groups.
• They leapt to make that connection after university presidents hedged when asked how they'd respond to antisemitism on campus.

In corporate America, DEI efforts lost momentum this year after a Supreme Court affirmative action ruling in June.

• "2023 has undeniably shifted the DEI landscape for years to come," Paradigm said in a report last month.

What's happening: Billionaire hedge fund manager and Harvard alumnus Bill Ackman wrote an open letter to his alma mater calling for Claudine Gay to resign as president, and said the university's DEI office was a "major contributing source of discriminatory practices on campus."

• Gay's job is safe, Harvard's board said yesterday.

Stacy Burdett, an antisemitism expert and former vice president of the Anti-Defamation League, said: "It's a reality that traditional DEI has not been inclusive enough of antisemitism and it's urgent to address the gaps."

• "The racial justice movement as we know it may not have imagined the need to support and protect a group of mostly white people who are targeted by hate crimes and identity-based harassment," she said.
• But she added that "the culture war against diversity, and efforts to turn DEI into a bogeyman don't make Jewish people safer. That's simply playing on Jewish fear to score political points."

Flashback: Three years ago, after George Floyd's killing and the ensuing protests threw the lack of diversity at colleges and companies into the spotlight, universities were raking in funds to establish new DEI programs.

• Institutions, including Brown and UT Dallas, raised funds to increase accessibility, support DEI research and hire faculty.
• A slew of colleges around the country, including the University of Minnesota and Penn State, established new scholarships to support students from underrepresented backgrounds.

👓 What to watch: Bills to defund DEI efforts at public colleges or limit or ban identity-based faculty hiring have been proposed in 20 states this year.

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The COP28 climate summit in Dubai ended today after nearly 200 nations adopted a deal that calls for "transitioning away" from fossil fuels.

• Why it matters: This is the first COP agreement to mention moving away from fossil fuels to avoid the worst impacts of climate change — though it still does not include the term "phase out."

COP28 president Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber hailed the "historic package" that nations had committed to:

• "We have language on fossil fuel in our final agreement for the first time ever."

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More chief executives of America's largest companies plan to add workers than just three months ago — which could keep the economy humming in the months ahead.

• That's according to a new survey of 141 CEOs conducted by the Business Roundtable — seen first by Axios Macro authors Courtenay Brown and Neil Irwin.

Why it matters: The results are consistent with an economy continuing its steady growth and avoiding the oft-predicted recession.

🧮 By the numbers: The BRT's economic outlook index rose 2 points to 74 this quarter. The index peaked in Q4 2021 and has now hovered at similar levels — showing steady if unspectacular growth — for six straight quarters.

• "The results of this quarter's survey are consistent with an economy that is cooling and the Federal Reserve's strategy to bring inflation back to target," BRT CEO Joshua Bolten said in a statement.
• The BRT's hiring index jumped nearly 10 points, as more leaders planned to increase their payrolls. It reversed a deterioration in employment plans in Q3.

⚠️ Warning sign to watch: While most CEOs plan to hold capital spending plans steady, a growing share say they will slash investments in things like new machinery, factories or software in the months ahead.

🔎 Between the lines: The BRT says that at least one factor behind moderating investment plans is expired Trump-era tax breaks that look unlikely to be re-upped by Congress.

• "With the decrease in plans for capital investment, it is critical that Congress restore provisions to support investment," Bolten said.

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Former President Obama donned a Santa hat and grabbed a red pack yesterday to surprise pre-K students at Chicago's Parkside Academy.

• Why it matters: The Obama Foundation is working to engage and invest in neighborhoods surrounding the Obama Presidential Center (opening in '25), including South Shore, Washington Park and Woodlawn.

More pics.

The Biden administration has big plans to tackle one of the AI boom's sharpest controversies — whether open-source AI models make society safer or put the world at greater risk, Axios' Ina Fried reports.

• Why it matters: Ownership structure and intellectual-property rules will shape how AI evolves. Government's choices today to promote or restrict open-source versions of AI will set a course for decades to come.

What's happening: The White House's wide-ranging AI executive order this year tasked the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), part of the Commerce Department, with studying the open source question and recommending actions.

• NTIA administrator Alan Davidson tells Axios he wants to hear a wide range of viewpoints before making recommendations in a report due to the White House by next July.

🔭 Zoom out: Some, raising the specter of bioterrorists inventing super-viruses with open-source AI, argue that today's most advanced AI models are so powerful that they should be protected the way we guard nuclear secrets.

• Others maintain that publicly releasing powerful models will allow for more thorough testing and expand access beyond a few powerful companies.

What's next: This afternoon, NTIA kicks off its work with an event online and at the Center for Democracy & Technology, in Washington.

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At 9 a.m., Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is expected to announce plans for the NBA's Wizards and the NHL's Capitals to move from D.C. to a new arena just across the Potomac River in Alexandria, Va., Axios D.C.'s Cuneyt Dil reports.

• Why it matters: The move from Capital One Arena could be a disaster for D.C. nightlife. Downtown is already struggling with so many workers now remote.

Youngkin's event will be held at the Potomac Yard Metro station, the site of the planned arena and includes the teams' owner, Ted Leonsis, founder, chairman and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment.

• With news everywhere about today's event, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser late last night made an 11th-hour counteroffer to try to keep the teams yesterday, saying the District would finance $500 million of a $800 million renovation of Capital One — "our best and final offer."

🔎 The fine print: Virginia is offering Leonsis acres and acres of land at Potomac Yard, in a deal worth nearly $1 billion to build a sports arena and concert venue, sources say. The Virginia proposal needs sign-off from the state legislature and Alexandria City Council.

• But it appears D.C.'s only hopes of keeping the teams rest on the bill getting stuck in Richmond, or the neighborhood revolting in NIMBYism.

On ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption," longtime D.C. sports commentator Michael Wilbon ripped the plan to move the Wizards: "The NBA — a city sport! ... You're going to take the city sport out of the city, turn your back on Washington, D.C., and go to Virginia. Really?!"

• "What does that say to your fan base that has been loyal despite zero years of contention ... for a championship. Really?!"

🥊 Reality check: A top regional business leader tells Axios AM that with the difficulty and expense of building a state-of-the-art facility downtown, the alternative was for the franchises to leave the market completely.

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The New York Times hired its first editorial director of artificial intelligence initiatives — Zach Seward, a founding editor of Quartz.

• "Zach will build a small team in the newsroom to experiment with generative A.I. tools and prototype ideas," the announcement says.
• "He will help design training programs for curious journalists and will partner with colleagues across the company to determine where to incorporate generative A.I. tools into our publishing tools and digital products."

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Godzilla is having a moment, Axios What's Next Editor Alex Fitzpatrick writes.

• Japanese filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki's "Godzilla: Minus One" is on an absolute rampage, garnering rave reviews and pulling in at least $50 million globally on a relative shoestring budget.

Set in postwar Japan, the film taps the kaiju genre to explore the country's struggles in grappling with its actions and the incredible devastation levied upon it, among other complex themes. (But, yes, plenty of buildings get smashed up big.)

• It's shattered multiple U.S. box office records, with some critics saying it's a last-minute contender for movie of the year.

Godzilla's also getting play on home streaming, with Apple TV's "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" garnering a respectable (if not world-shattering) 85% on Rotten Tomatoes.

🎥 What's next: "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" is out next April.