Uber plans to invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian as part of an ambitious plan to deploy thousands of electric robotaxis across 25 cities starting in 2028.

• Why it matters: Uber keeps upping the ante on its autonomous vehicle strategy, with a growing list of AV partnerships and increasingly big financial commitments for depot operations, EV charging and tens of thousands of robotaxis.

The big picture: Uber and Rivian said they're partnering to help accelerate both companies' AV plans.

• Autonomous vehicles are a threat to Uber, which abandoned an earlier effort to develop its own self-driving technology.
• Now it's defending its ride-hailing turf by deploying AV partners' vehicles on its platform and creating a new unit to help AV partners with operational issues. Its growing list of AV partners has more than 25 names.

For Rivian, its autonomous driving system is an important future revenue line.

• The company already offers hands-free, driver-assistance technology, and it plans to roll out eyes-off, hands-off technology this year.
• It hopes to leverage that feature with subscription revenue from its autonomy software package. Rivian could also license the technology to other EV manufactures without their own self-driving tech.

Follow the money: Following an initial $300 million investment, Uber committed to invest up to an additional $950 million over the next five years, subject to Rivian hitting milestones in the program by specific dates.

• Achieving so-called Level 4 autonomy — the full self-driving capability required for a robotaxi — would make Rivian's autonomy software that much more valuable.

Reality check: The $300 million injection is a nice financial cushion for the EV maker with losses piling up.

• And it couldn't come at a better time, with Rivian debuting its new R2 as EV sales stagnate.

📈 Rivian shares today jumped 3.8%.

America's financial regulators released a package of proposals today that would ease regulations for the nation's banks, Axios' Courtenay Brown writes.

• Why it matters: This is the biggest swing yet at bank deregulation efforts in the Trump 2.0 era, which administration officials see as key to moving its economic agenda forward.

Zoom in: The proposals from the Fed, the OCC and FDIC would lower bank capital requirements — that is, the financial cushion that regulators require banks to hold against potential losses — for the largest and most systemically important firms by nearly 5%.

• Bank capital requirements for the smallest banking organizations would fall by almost 8%.

The big picture: The officials behind the proposal say the looser requirements will unlock a flurry of lending.

• But the looser rules, if adopted, could leave the financial system with less of a buffer in the face of an unforeseen shock. Recently, there have been concerns about stress in private credit — to which the banks are notable lenders.

Go deeper

📦 FedEx beat expectations for the last quarter and raised its guidance for fiscal 2026 — projecting revenue growth of 6%–6.5%. (CNBC)

🚀 SpaceX is reportedly getting a larger role in NASA's Moon-landing mission, potentially at the expense of Boeing. (Bloomberg)

Steak-hungry Americans are skipping the meat aisle — and heading to restaurants instead, Axios' Kelly Tyko writes.

• 🥩 Sky-high grocery prices, especially for beef, are reshaping how people consume one of the most expensive proteins — and narrowing the gap between cooking at home and dining out.

📈 Driving the news: Darden Restaurants today said its LongHorn Steakhouse chain posted 7.2% same-store sales growth, far outpacing other brands in its portfolio.

• At the same time, executives pointed to "double-digit demand destruction" for beef at retail — a sign consumers are pulling back at grocery stores.

Between the lines: Restaurants have raised prices more slowly than grocery stores in recent years — making steakhouse meals look like a better value than they used to.

🗣️ The intrigue: Steak has gotten so expensive that consumers are turning to restaurants for risk management, Darden CEO Rick Cardenas suggested.

• "When a consumer has to cook a very expensive steak at home and they mess it up, they still have to eat it," he said. "When a consumer goes to a restaurant ... and we mess it up, we eat it — and they still eat a great steak."

Go deeper