Architects of the leading generative AI models are abuzz that a top company, possibly OpenAI, in coming weeks will announce a next-level breakthrough that unleashes Ph.D.-level super-agents to do complex human tasks, Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei report in a "Behind the Curtain" column.

• We've learned that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman — who in September dubbed this "The Intelligence Age," and is in Washington this weekend for the inauguration — has scheduled a closed-door briefing for U.S. government officials in Washington on Jan. 30.

💡 Why it matters: The expected advancements help explain why Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and others have talked publicly about AI replacing mid-level software engineers and other human jobs this year.

"[P]robably in 2025," Zuckerberg told Joe Rogan 10 days ago, "we at Meta, as well as the other companies that are basically working on this, are going to have an AI that can effectively be a sort of midlevel engineer that you have at your company that can write code."

• "[O]ver time, we'll get to the point where a lot of the code in our apps, and including the AI that we generate, is actually going to be built by AI engineers instead of people engineers," he added.

Between the lines: A super-agent breakthrough could push generative AI from a fun, cool, aspirational tool to a true replacement for human workers.

• Our sources in the U.S. government and leading AI companies tell us that in recent months, the companies have been exceeding projections in AI advancement.
• OpenAI released an "Economic Blueprint" this past week, arguing that with the right rules and infrastructure investments, AI can "catalyze a reindustrialization across the country."

🔎 To be sure: The AI world is full of hype. Most people struggle now to use the most popular models to truly approximate the work of humans.

• AI investors have reason to hype small advancements as epic ones to juice valuations to help fund their ambitions.
• But sources say this coming advancement is significant. Several OpenAI staff have been telling friends they are both jazzed and spooked by recent progress. As we told you in a column Saturday, Jake Sullivan — the outgoing White House national security adviser, with security clearance for the nation's biggest secrets — believes the next few years will determine whether AI advancements end in "catastrophe."

The big picture: Imagine a world where complex tasks aren't delegated to humans. Instead, they're executed with the precision, speed, and creativity you'd expect from a Ph.D.-level professional.

• We're talking about super-agents — AI tools designed to tackle messy, multilayered, real-world problems that human minds struggle to organize and conquer.
• They don't just respond to a single command; they pursue a goal. Super agents synthesize massive amounts of information, analyze options and deliver products.

A few examples:

1. 💸 Build from scratch: Imagine telling your agent, "Build me new payment software." The agent could design, test and deliver a functioning product.
2. 🌀 Make sense of chaos: For a financial analysis of a potential investment, your agent could scour thousands of sources, evaluate risks, and compile insights faster (and better) than a team of humans.
3. 🛬 Master logistics: Planning an offsite retreat? The agent could handle scheduling, travel arrangements, handouts and more — down to booking a big dinner in a private room near the venue.

This isn't a lights-on moment — AI is advancing along a spectrum.

• These tools are growing smarter, sharper, and more integrated every day. "This will have huge applications for health, science and education," an AI insider tells us, "because of the ability to do deep research at a scale and scope we haven't seen — then the compounding effects translate into real productivity growth."

🤔 The other side: There are still big problems with generative AI's Achilles heel — the way it makes things up. Reliability and hallucinations are an even bigger problem if you're going to turn AI into autonomous agents: Unless OpenAI and its rivals can persuade customers and users that agents can be trusted to perform tasks without going off the rails, the companies' vision of autonomous agents will flop.

• Noam Brown, a top OpenAI researcher, tweeted Friday: "Lots of vague AI hype on social media these days. There are good reasons to be optimistic about further progress, but plenty of unsolved research problems remain."

What to watch: Two massive tectonic shifts are happening at once — President-elect Trump and MAGA are coming into power at the very moment AI companies are racing to approximate human-like or human-surpassing intelligence.

• Look for Congress to tackle a massive AI infrastructure bill to help spur American job growth in the data, chips and energy to power AI.
• And look for MAGA originals like Steve Bannon to argue that coming generations of AI will be job-killing evil for managerial, administrative and tech workers. The new models "will gut the workforce — especially entry-level, where young people start," Bannon told us.

Axios' Scott Rosenberg, managing editor for tech, contributed reporting.

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Conor McGregor, the mixed martial arts champ known as Notorious, was spotted making the scene at STK Steakhouse in Washington this weekend, Mike Allen reports.

• Other Ultimate Fighting Championship stars are expected at a black-tie reception Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — a UFC fan and Brazilian jiu-jitsu medalist — will co-host Monday night before the inaugural balls.

Why it matters: The fighters are part of a celebrity influx since President-elect Trump's last inauguration. Giddy MAGA insiders crow that Trump is culturally cool — or at least socially acceptable — after a stretch of toxicity.

Alex Bruesewitz — CEO of X Strategies LLC, based in Palm Beach, who advises Trump's inner circle on alternative media — told Axios between parties this weekend: "President Trump is cool again."

• "He's reclaimed that image he had his entire adult life before he ran for president — sitting courtside at New York Knicks games and lighting Kate Moss's cigarette," Bruesewitz said. "That Donald Trump is back, and now he's going to the White House. It's now socially acceptable to support it."

Behind the scenes: Bruesewitz helped lead the charge on VIP outreach for the inauguration. He drew on his personal relationships and input from other Trump friends to help build a glittery roster for this weekend's festivities.

• Bruesewitz told me part of the reason is that as celebrities met Trump personally, and as people hear him on long-form podcast interviews, they found him at odds with the portrayal in much of the media: "He was charming and hilarious, not crazy and angry."

Trump's inaugural weekend roster is expected to include:

• Iconic athletes: Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield.
• Current athletes: NHL player Evander Kane, free agent MLB pitcher Noah "Thor" Syndergaard.
• Retired athletes: Brian Urlacher, Le'Veon Bell, Antonio Brown.
• Internet celebrities: Jake and Logan Paul, the Nelk boys.
• Rappers: Rod Wave, Kodak Black.
• Comedian: Rob Schneider.
• Carrie Underwood sings "America the Beautiful" at the swearing-in.

As part of the Nashville-friendly festivities, country singer, guitarist and songwriter Parker McCollum will perform at the Commander-in-Chief Ball, one of three where the newly inaugurated president will speak Monday night.

• Performers at the unofficial Crypto Ball at the 90-year-old Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on Friday night: Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Soulja Boy.

‍✈️ For history ... AP NewsAlert, 7:06 p.m.: DULLES, Va. (AP) — Trump lands in Washington area as he prepares to reclaim the White House.

• Share this story ... Official inaugural schedule ... Axios D.C.'s guide to road closures, parties and more.

TIkTok's 170 million users started receiving a "services temporarily unavailable" notice late last night as a law to ban the app was set to take effect at midnight.

• Why it matters: It's the first time the U.S. has banned a major online platform of this scale, Axios' Maria Curi and Sara Fischer report.

👀 What to watch: President-elect Trump could decide to extend the deadline by 90 days, but he'd have to show that legally binding negotiations for a sale of TikTok to U.S. owners are underway.

• "The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it's appropriate," Trump told NBC News' "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker yesterday. He said he'll "probably announce" any action on Monday.
• Trump could also issue an executive order or ask his attorney general not to enforce the law.

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After a three-hour delay, the ceasefire in Gaza began at 11:15 a.m. local time (4:15 a.m. ET) with Israel and Hamas agreeing to stop the fighting for 42 days.

• Why it matters: This is the first ceasefire in the Gaza war since November 2023, Axios' Barak Ravid writes.

The war, which started with the Hamas terror attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, has been the bloodiest period in the Israel-Palestinian conflict since 1948.

• More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza's health ministry. And more than 1,600 Israelis have been killed. Most of the casualties on both sides have been civilians.
• The war created a devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, displacing around two million Palestinians and destroying tens of thousands of buildings.

Catch up quick: The ceasefire was supposed to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time (1:30 a.m. ET) on Sunday.

• But after Hamas failed to submit a list of the three hostages it is going to release today, Israel announced the ceasefire would not come into force. Israeli jets conducted several air strikes in Gaza on Sunday morning local time, and at least 8 Palestinians were killed.
• Hamas submitted the list around 10:30 a.m. local time, and the ceasefire began 45 minutes later.

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President Biden will leave office having presided over a very strong stock market, but not quite as strong as either of his two predecessors, Axios' Dan Primack reports.

• The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq Composite each gained more during Trump's first term than during Biden's.

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President-elect Trump launched his own cryptocurrency Friday night, and as of this morning appeared to have made more than $50 billion on paper for himself and his companies.

• Why it matters: The stunning launch of $TRUMP highlights both Trump's personal influence and the ascendancy of cryptocurrency in his administration, Axios' Ben Berkowitz and Brady Dale write.

It also speaks to the nature of the crypto industry that someone could have more than $50 billion worth of something that didn't exist 48 hours previously.

• Combined with the value of his social media business and real estate holdings, $TRUMP nominally makes Trump one of the world's 25 wealthiest people.

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Most U.S. adults say they support mass deportations of immigrants living in the country illegally — but that enthusiasm erodes when respondents are presented with options on how to carry them out, Axios' Margaret Talev and Russell Contreras write from a new Axios-Ipsos poll.

By the numbers: Two-thirds of Americans surveyed said they support deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally.

• Among Republicans, support was at 93%, followed by 67% among independents and 43% among Democrats.

Just 38% of Americans support using active-duty military to find and detain undocumented immigrants.

• Just one in three endorses separating families or sending people to countries other than their country of origin in the interest of speed. And just one in three supports deporting those who came to the U.S. as children.

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Taylor Swift chats with Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever during the AFC Divisional Playoff between the Houston Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium yesterday.

• The Chiefs won, 23–14.

Over in Detroit, the underdog Washington Commanders beat the No. 1 seeded Detroit Lions, 45–31.

• Commanders' rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels put on a flawless performance.