Spirit Airlines is in talks with the White House over a potential bailout — a move that could test how far the Trump administration is willing to go to prop up a struggling private-sector company.

• Spirit — a budget airline that's been teetering on the edge of liquidation — is in advanced discussions to borrow up to $500 million from the government, according to a person familiar with the matter.
• The deal would likely provide equity warrants giving Uncle Sam a substantial ownership stake in the troubled business — possibly as much as 90%.

"I guess it would be the Amtrak of the skies," Tad DeHaven, policy analyst at the Cato Institute, tells Axios.

Follow the money: Trump has previously tied government intervention to stated policy goals — and to a financial return for the U.S.

• Trump procured a 10% stake in Intel for the U.S. in exchange for CHIPS Act cash.
• He got Nvidia to agree to give the U.S. 25% revenue from certain chip sales to China in exchange for relevant licensing.
• He acquired shares in multiple companies in the rare earth and mining space, including MP Materials and USA Rare Earth.

Friction point: If the government takes over Spirit, it would mark a renewal of a bailout strategy that defined the financial crisis of 2008-09, when the U.S. took ownership stakes in General Motors, Chrysler and various banks.

• But those companies were generally deemed too big to fail — a distinction that does not apply to Spirit, which has only 3.4% U.S. market share as of the 12-month period ending in February.

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Tesla reported an uptick in quarterly revenue and profit, but the costs of pivoting to an AI future are starting to add up.

Why it matters: CEO Elon Musk has directed the company to invest heavily in the development and production of humanoid robots, self-driving cars and AI chips.

📊 Driving the news: The company reported Q1 revenue of $22.4 billion, up 16% from a year earlier.

• Net income totaled $477 million, up 17%, but operating expenses ballooned 37% to $3.78 billion.
• Its operating margin fell to 4.2%, declining sequentially for the second consecutive quarter.

State of play: The company recently discontinued the Model S sedan and Model X crossover to make way for the production of the Optimus robot at its factory in Fremont, California.

• The Model Y crossover — its most popular vehicle — could be similarly sidelined: "Once in production, we expect that Cybercab will begin to replace the existing Model Y fleet and will be the largest volume vehicle in the fleet over time," Tesla said in its earnings presentation.

What we're watching: Tesla said it expects to reach volume production of the Cybercab and electric Semi in 2026.

• And the company is partnering with Musk's SpaceX, which is approaching an IPO, to build what Tesla called "the largest chip fab ever."

📈 What investors are saying: Shares were trading up 4% in extended trading.

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🤝 Lululemon named longtime Nike executive Heidi O'Neill as its next CEO, set to start Sept. 8. (WSJ)

🔋 Rivian said it has started production of its new R2 all-electric vehicle at its Normal, Illinois, plant — a key milestone ahead of customer deliveries scheduled for later this spring. (CNBC)

Robinhood's venture fund closed a $75 million investment in OpenAI on Friday.

Why it matters: It's the clearest avenue yet for retail investors to get access to shares of the AI giant before it goes public, Axios' Madison Mills writes.

Driving the news: Robinhood Ventures Fund I, ticker RVI, acts as something of a mutual fund retail investors can buy into, but it contains shares of private companies.

• Those companies include some of the biggest names expected to IPO at some point in the coming years if not sooner, including Databricks, Stripe, Ramp, Oura and now OpenAI.

Zoom out: Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev told Axios last year that he thinks the company's ability to democratize investment in private companies could be its biggest move ever.

Robinhood shares closed up 2.3%.