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.

Think of Anthropic vs. Trump as merely a small test run of this dynamic, with governments battling private companies over their products' threat to U.S. or global security.

• AI CEOs sat around the table with leaders of the world's democracies, treated as peers. The companies, creating the world's future economy and security infrastructure, are now the equivalent of nation-states.

📷 In the photo above, you see President Trump (upper left above) flanked by OpenAI CEO Altman at his right and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, a Nobel laureate, on his left.

• The G7 host, French President Emmanuel Macron (upper right above), is flanked by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff.

🕶️ Altman was swarmed on Wednesday as he entered the summit room in Évian-les-Bains for a working lunch with the heads of actual states, with ministers and cabinet members from around the world straining for a look.

• Altman held bilateral meetings — bilats, in diplomatic shorthand — with many of the heads of state. He heard again and again that the countries want the AI companies as dependable partners.

"Do not cede your responsibilities to AI labs like mine," Altman said in closed-door remarks. He later added: "No single lab should be making the decisions."

• Amodei, Altman and Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang each posed with Macron for bilat photos with the French flag behind them, in the chair typically occupied by a president, prime minister or chancellor.

🎤 The working lunch was closed to the press. But I've confirmed remarks by the three AI titans. Each urged Western powers to work together to be sure democracies continue to dominate AI.

• Keep reading for a quote from each.

📱 Go deeper: Watch Marc Caputo's post-G-7 interview with President Trump.

President Trump had glowing praise for Chinese President Xi Jinping in his interview for "The Axios Show," calling him one of the world's greatest leaders, Axios' Josephine Walker writes.

Trump told Axios' Marc Caputo that all great leaders share one trait: intelligence. He singled out Xi as especially sharp.

• "They're all smart," Trump said. "You can't get to that level without being smart. You know who is very smart ... President Xi of China. He's a very smart man. You don't get to those levels where you are running a country, even if it was a small country, you have something special."

💪 Trump praised Xi for being a "strong man. He's no games. He won't sit down and say: 'Oh, what a beautiful day. ... Look how beautiful. Look at the sunshine.' There's none of that stuff. It's like all business, which I like. I think it's great."

• "[H]e's got a great look. Looks don't matter, right? ... They say: Don't talk about looks. But he's tall. He's 6-foot-2. He's got a great stature. He's got great confidence, and he is smart."

Reality check: Xi is usually described as being around 5-foot-11.

🎬 Watch the episode.

The World Cup is generating an army of modern-day Alexis de Tocquevilles discovering America — a huge moment for U.S. soft power as the country nears its 250th birthday with a mixed global reputation at best, Alex Fitzpatrick writes.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Boston welcoming Scottish fans is the off-the-pitch story of the tournament so far.

• The Scots seem enamored with Beantown, and vice versa.
• They drank the Sam Adams brewery dry. They brought soccer superfan energy to Fenway (one wee lad took home a souvenir). They're cleaning up after themselves, too.

🇩🇪 Then there's "Freddy," the Germany fan whose low-budget odyssey across America has gone viral.

• His awe-inspired takes on U.S. arenas, food and even gas stations (Buc-ee's and Waffle House got rave reviews) have captured the hearts of millions of Americans, helping us see ourselves only the way an open-minded tourist with fresh eyes can.

🇯🇵 A Japan supporter has racked up over 16 million views on their downright poetic missive about free chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant.

• "In my land, hospitality is a debt. Every gift creates an obligation, weighed carefully, returned in the proper season with interest of feeling."
• "Here, the gift arrives before you have even proven you can pay for dinner. This is not an appetizer. This is a declaration: We trust you. Eat."

♻️ Like the Scots, Japanese fans are also winning over hearts and minds with their tradition of cleaning up arenas after games.

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President Trump showed off the new Air Force One, a formerly Qatari-owned jumbo jet that has been converted into the official U.S. presidential aircraft, inside the hangar at Andrews Air Force Base yesterday.

• The new aircraft swaps the JFK-era robin's-egg blue exterior of the old plane for a bolder look, with the underbelly painted navy blue with a red stripe above it. The plane's left side, where the president boards, features the presidential seal. The tail of the aircraft has the American flag.

Trump said he'll take the new jet to the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, next month.

• Go deeper.

Some Democratic candidates are learning the hard way that there's a cost to being party leadership's favorite in a hotly contested primary.

• Why it matters: This echoes the Tea Party wave that hit Republicans in the 2010s, with party outsiders harnessing primary voters' anger to win upset victories over establishment candidates, Axios' Andrew Solender writes.

🥊 The first blow for Democrats came earlier this month in California's 22nd district: Moderate Assembly Member Jasmeet Bains lost to progressive Randy Villegas despite being backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).

• On Thursday, another DCCC endorsee, Sen. Joe Baldacci, lost the Democratic primary in Maine's 2nd district to progressive rival and state auditor Matt Dunlap.

"Everyday voters are so tired of what feels rigged and ... predetermined," progressive Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-N.J.) told Axios.

• Mejia defeated several establishment-backed foes in a February special primary election to replace Rep. Mikie Sherrill after she was elected New Jersey governor.
• "Rome is on fire," Mejia says. "And if that's the sentiment of the suburbs of New Jersey, that is telling."

Keep reading.

The "red-state exodus" narrative misses a quieter reality: Affordability and work are drawing LGBTQ+ residents to places that may be politically complicated but economically viable, Axios' Russell Contreras reports.

💰 By the numbers: Homebuyers need to earn $150,364 annually to afford the median-priced home in states with LGBTQ+ housing protections, per an Axios analysis of real estate company Redfin data.

• That's 46.8% more than in states without such protections.

Zoom in: There's evidence of strong LGBTQ+ populations in the Southern metros — including Atlanta, Raleigh and Charlotte — that complicates the old "blue enclave" frame.

• Cities with stronger protections like San Francisco and Boston often come with significantly higher housing costs.

Read on.

The new "American flag blue" paint at the bottom of D.C.'s freshly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool appeared to be peeling away this week — less than two weeks after the $14.7 million project was completed, Reuters reports.

• Frantic work to kill the algae bloom that has tinted the water green post-renovation is ongoing.

Watch a video: ABC's Jonathan Karl reports from the Reflecting Pool.

The U.S. national soccer team found a way to advance to the knockout Round of 32 without Christian Pulisic — their superstar injured forward — on the field, beating Australia 2-0 yesterday.

• With Paraguay's Friday night victory over Turkey, the U.S. has also secured first place in Group D, winning its group for the first time since the 2010 Cup.

Stat du jour: The Americans have scored six goals in this tournament so far, one off their record for most in a single World Cup.

• Go deeper.