OpenAI's ChatGPT previewed the future with its chatbot release in late 2022. Anthropic's latest Claude AI takes you there, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen write in a "Behind the Curtain" column.

• Why it matters: Claude Opus 4.5 — which powers Anthropic's agent tools, Claude Code for developers and the newly released Cowork — lets anyone quickly turn an idea into a functioning program or app, using plain English.

🤯 In eight hours, Jim built four apps on his phone — all fully functioning, all beautifully designed and intuitive. "My mind is officially blown in a way it never has been before," he texted Mike on Thursday.

• We've been building products and companies for 20 years. Any of those apps would have taken multiple people and many weeks to hit this level of design and usability.
• Jim wanted to create a test to screen for people who'll excel at using AI. He built a 30-question quiz on his phone in two hours, then easily added five-minute training courses for each skill set.

Claude shows in vivid and unforgettable ways how easily AI will perform complex human tasks instantly — and forever change work, jobs and chores. Google, OpenAI, xAI and other competitors are racing to match and exceed Claude.

• You can assume there'll be leapfrogging advancements in this hyper-competitive race.
• Yes, these AI tools remain imperfect. But when you experiment with them, you'll see they're advancing lightning-fast.

The big picture: 2026 seems increasingly likely to be the year AI will go from fascinating aspiration to actual widespread application.

• Chris Lehane, OpenAI's chief global affairs officer, tells us: "The whole waterline in capabilities has risen — everyone who has a boat, whether a big boat or a smaller boat, is rising on this rising tide. The capabilities are moving faster, and we as a society need to move faster if we want as many people as possible to have a fair chance of getting their fair piece of the intelligence age."

Column continues below.

I used Claude Opus 4.5, Anthropic's flagship AI, accessed through a $20/month Claude Pro subscription, Jim VandeHei continues.

How it works: This version can actually build things — not just chat. It writes code, creates working apps, and delivers downloadable files, all from my phone. You talk to it conversationally, directing what you want and how it should work.

• And I'm a tech dope who knows nothing about coding. I thought Ruby on Rails, a popular tool for developers, was some kind of LSD. And ColdFusion, a web development platform, sounds like the science explaining why my beer freezes at Lambeau Field.

🖥️ What's crazier: I've hardly touched my souped-up, $100-per-month desktop version. Claude's Cowork is an agent that can take on complex, multistep tasks and execute them on your behalf. Point it at a folder, describe what you want, and walk away. It's macOS-only for now.

🧠 Case in point: To create my quiz to gauge someone's AI agility, I started with a thesis about who's likely to excel in our new world — then fed it into ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude to stress-test and perfect.

• All three LLMs offered different but related feedback, and helped me distill AI adeptness into five traits, in this order: Interrogative Curiosity, Taste, Contextual Wisdom, Architectural Discipline and Iterative Stamina.

Next, I used all three to help create a 30-question survey modeled after Gallup's StrengthsFinder and other personality tests for professional success.

• Then I used Claude's Opus 4.5 to build an interactive test, scoring system, and results page. The design and user experience are astonishingly good.
• Finally, I had Claude build five-minute training sessions to help users improve in their areas of weakness.

I shared the final program, AGI-Q (above), with a dozen friends, who all marveled at its ease. I'll make the app public once I get more comfortable with the test itself and the results' validity.

• 👉 If you're super-eager to see it, shoot your text number to [email protected] and I'll send a private version.

The bottom line: Plenty of these tools are free — use them voraciously, and get comfortable and adept. Your career likely depends on it.

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There's been a lot of debate over President Trump's penchant for having the U.S. government take equity stakes in private companies, which continued this week with two new deals, Axios Pro Rata author Dan Primack writes.

• But one thing is indisputable: These investments boost company value, at least in the short term.

Why it matters: Positive stock performance helps explain why so many free-market capitalists have signed onto something that seems more socialist than not.

• And why others will do so when given the opportunity.

📈 By the numbers: The White House appears to have agreed to equity deals with nine companies, most of which are publicly traded.

• The public cohort saw their share prices climb an average of 85% between the time of announcement (or press leak, if earlier) and yesterday, per an Axios analysis.

Intel shares, for example, have more than doubled since the chipmaker agreed to sell a 9.9% equity stake to the U.S. government last August.

• Trilogy Metals shares are up 171%.

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President Trump said in a Truth Social post this week that the average American household's monthly utility bills rose "over 30%" under President Biden. Axios national energy correspondent Amy Harder goes between the lines:

• National electricity prices rose 4.7%, when adjusted for inflation, during Biden's term, with a noticeable uptick in 2022, alongside the early boom in AI, according to the Trump administration's own energy stats agency. Without adjusting for inflation, that figure rises to 25.8%, far closer to Trump's claim.

💡 Between the lines: Some states — particularly those in the mid-Atlantic where more and more data centers are being built to power AI — are seeing higher-than-average price spikes.

• Administration officials joined a bipartisan group of governors yesterday in pushing for tech companies to pitch in to bring down prices.

Read on.

Canada is slashing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles as part of a broader trade deal.

• Why it matters: Chinese-made cars are closing in on America despite attempts to keep them out, Axios' Nathan Bomey reports.

⚡ State of play: While Chinese vehicles have already become popular in Mexico, there are effectively none sold in the U.S.

• Chinese automakers have targeted the U.S. market for ages, but only recently have their cars improved in quality enough to be competitive on a global stage.

👀 The intrigue: Chinese-brand vehicles aren't an uncommon sight in the U.S. close to the Mexico border, which suggests the same could become true near the northern border once Chinese EVs head to Canada.

• Chinese vehicles are expected to control about 30% of the global market by 2030, according to AlixPartners.

Keep reading.

This week's big AI moves could wind up reshuffling the AI leaderboard, and affect how people invest time, money and attention, Axios' Herb Scribner writes:

1. Ads are coming to ChatGPT: OpenAI needs to make money, lots of money, to build its data centers to scale chatbot use. Go deeper.
2. "Vibe coding" goes viral: Anthropic's new Cowork tool took off on social media because it helps non-coders complete everyday tasks. Go deeper.
3. Gemini comes to Gmail and YouTube: Google is adding Gemini AI features into Gmail, giving 3 billion users AI email summaries, an AI writing assistant and enhanced search capabilities. Go deeper.
4. AI isn't killing jobs (yet): Anthropic — a company that once warned AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs — said in a new study this week that AI is changing jobs more than eliminating them. Read the report.
5. Warning sign for the boom: The U.S. may not have enough skilled workers to support a growing AI-related construction boom, according a new BlackRock study. Go deeper.
6. Smartphones' evolution: Apple picked Google to power Siri and other Apple Intelligence features. Samsung plans to double its lineup of AI-equipped smartphones by the end of the year. Go deeper.

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From Axios' Dan Primack ...

Gritty's salary might make you rethink your career choice.

• The Philadelphia Flyers mascot makes about $250,000 a year, nearly as much as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, the nation's highest-paid governor, Axios Philadelphia's Isaac Avilucea writes.

Gritty still lags behind the Denver Nuggets' Rocky the Mountain Lion ($625K), the Atlanta Hawks' Harry the Hawk ($600K) and the Chicago Bulls' Benny the Bull ($400K).

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