The holy grail of technology — artificial general intelligence (AGI) that can match or outdo humans — is on the horizon, Google DeepMind co-founder and CEO Demis Hassabis says.

• But the risks of something going seriously wrong are also in sight, and some are even happening now, he warns.

The big picture: Google set the AI world spinning in recent months with the giant leaps in its frontier model Gemini, prompting a "code red" at OpenAI and forcing others to rethink the competitive landscape, Axios managing editor for business Ben Berkowitz writes.

• But Hassabis, 49, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry last year, and his DeepMind team are already thinking far, far ahead.

"We're definitely not there now" in terms of AGI, Hassabis told Mike in an interview at yesterday's Axios AI+ SF Summit in San Francisco.

• "Quite close. I think we're like 5 to 10 years away if you were to ask me."

🔎 But the road to AGI will be littered with missteps, including bad actors. Some "catastrophic outcomes," like cyberattacks on energy and water infrastructure, are a clear and present danger.

• "That's probably almost already happening now, I would say — maybe not with very sophisticated AI yet, but I think that's the most obvious vulnerable vector," Hassabis said.
• That's one reason, the London native added, that Google is so heavily focused on cybersecurity, to defend against such threats.

🤖 Zoom out: Whatever happens between now and AGI, a running theme of the AI+ summit was the inevitability of AI-driven change — and the need to accept it and adapt.

• Box co-founder and CEO Aaron Levie said the technology industry benefits from having as many as five viable AI competitors at the same time, fighting what amounts to a daily skirmish for technical supremacy: "If you look at it over a five-year period, it's sort of completely anybody's game."

More from Axios AI+ SF: Hassabis on AI dangers ... Hassabis on AGI ... Box CEO Aaron Levie.

A new Trump-aligned online fundraising platform, launched yesterday, could upend the Republican Party's massive cash ecosystem.

• Why it matters: The new platform — called Impact — will clash with the party's dominant small-dollar fundraising partner, WinRed, for supremacy over the GOP gold mine, Axios' Alex Isenstadt reports.

👀 The stakes are huge: During the 2024 campaign, WinRed — which, like Impact, is a for-profit business — processed $1.8 billion in donations from 4.5 million small-dollar donors.

Zoom out: Impact, which launched yesterday, is led in part by social-media guru Alex Bruesewitz, a Trump 2024 adviser and conservative influencer, along with Michael Seifert.

• It's owned by PublicSquare, a MAGA-friendly online marketplace that describes itself as an "anti-woke" alternative to Amazon. Donald Trump Jr. is on the board.

💰 How it works: The clash over MAGA cash will unfold as both platforms process online donations made to campaigns, PACs, political committees and others.

• For each donation, the processing platform keeps a percentage.

Chief among Impact's promises: It will take less of a cut of donor contributions than WinRed does, and provide greater transparency about how donations are being handled.

• The president's fundraising is still being done on WinRed and two of his top political lieutenants, Chris LaCivita and Tony Fabrizio, remain on WinRed's board.

Read on.

A divided Supreme Court came to the rescue of Texas Republicans yesterday: The decision cleared the way for next year's elections to be held under the state's congressional redistricting plan that's favorable to the GOP and pushed by President Trump, despite a lower-court ruling that the map likely discriminates on the basis of race.

• The court acted on an emergency request from Texas for quick action. Qualifying in the new districts has already begun, with primary elections in March.

Why it matters: The ruling is a major win for Republicans, whose House majority could hinge on whether Texas keeps or loses the extra five GOP-leaning seats state lawmakers drew this year, Axios San Antonio's Megan Stringer reports.

⚖️ A grand jury declined to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James yesterday.

• The decision was another example of "how judges and jurors have acted as a check on Trump's desire to use the criminal justice system to punish his political foes," the N.Y. Times reports.

Buyers signed contracts on 176 Manhattan homes worth $4 million or more in November, up 25% from October.

• Why it matters: "In the leadup to the city's mayoral race, critics of [Mayor-elect] Zohran Mamdani claimed his election could spur an exodus of rich New Yorkers, a critical tax base whose flight would hurt the city's finances and property market. But one month after Mamdani's victory, affluent homebuyers seem unfazed," Bloomberg's Paulina Cachero reports.

Read on (gift link).

America's babies are joining the 401(k) generation early, thanks to the new "Trump accounts."

• Why it matters: Like employment-based retirement funds, Trump accounts will draw even more Americans into the stock market — along with all the risks, rewards and drawbacks, Axios' Emily Peck reports.

"This is the beginning of the shareholder economy," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said of Trump accounts at the New York Times DealBook conference on Wednesday.

• "When you see that people have a stake in the system, they don't want to bring the system down."

👀 Between the lines: This "shareholder economy" has been a long time in the making, as policymakers and businesses gradually shift responsibility for big social safety net policies onto individuals.

• Decades ago, 401(k)s started replacing pensions — a more steady and guaranteed form of retirement income.

529 accounts are a way for parents to pay for higher education, as prices rise and governments pull back on funding.

• This year, there's been a growing push for health care savings accounts and even portable savings accounts to help workers pay for sick days.

Keep reading.

Your human resources officers are probably using AI for a lot of jobs — and they're also finding that human resources is one of the riskiest ways to use the tech, Axios' Ashley Gold reports.

• Why it matters: Managing employees at work is becoming another space where machines may be making sensitive determinations previously left up to professionals.

By the numbers: 65% of HR professionals surveyed use AI at work, compared to 45% of the general workforce, according to Society for Human Resources Management research shared with Axios.

• Recruiting is the top area where organizations are using AI.

Keep reading.

The World Cup draw will be held today at the Kennedy Center at noon ET, live on FOX broadcasting.

• President Trump will share the stage with FIFA officials — he helped bring the event to D.C. (it was expected to go down in Las Vegas). And there's talk he may be honored with a new peace prize from the soccer organization, Axios D.C.'s Cuneyt Dil reports.

👀 We'll find out who plays whom to kick off next year's USA-Mexico-Canada hosted tournament — featuring 48 nations for the first time ever.

• Games will be played at 11 NFL stadiums along with three in Mexico and two in Canada. Attendance will top the record 3.59 million in 1994.

How it works: 48 teams will be divided into 12 groups, setting up matchups for the group-stage phase of the tournament, which begins June 11.

• We already know that Team USA will play its group matches in L.A. and Seattle.

FIFA will unveil the full match schedule, with dates and locations, tomorrow.

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Ralph Lauren revealed Team USA's looks for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics yesterday, with plenty of vintage callbacks.

• The Opening Ceremony look pairs a patterned red, white and blue knit sweater with tailored cream trousers and a matching wool coat. The closing ceremony outfit features a graphic puffer coat inspired by vintage ski kits over a color-blocked sweater.

The Ralph Lauren team starts working on each Olympics about 2½ years out from the Games. The looks for the 2028 games in L.A. are already months in the making.

• More from AP.