San Jose, Seattle and San Francisco are the country's AI job hotspots, Alex and Kavya Beheraj report from a new analysis — though some other perhaps more surprising metros round out the top 10.

Why it matters: As AI emerges as the hottest new thing in tech, cities outside Silicon Valley have a chance to get in on the action — and reap the potentially lucrative economic rewards.

How it works: The estimates come by way of UMD-LinkUp, a collaboration between the University of Maryland, job listings platform LinkUp and consultancy/executive firm Outrigger Group.

• The researchers are using AI language models to sift through LinkUp job listings for AI jobs, defined as those that require technical skills to either create or use AI models.
• Their use of AI significantly enhances their accuracy compared to traditional keyword filtering, the researchers say.

Zoom in: San Jose (142.4 new AI jobs listed per 100,000 residents), Seattle (74.4) and San Francisco (49.3) led the way in the first quarter of 2024 among cities with at least 500,000 residents and 25 newly posted jobs.

• In those cities, AI jobs accounted for about 7.5%, 4% and 3.2% of all new Q1 job listings, respectively.
• For comparison, there were 11.7 AI-related jobs posted for every 100,000 residents nationally in Q1.

Yes, but: Austin (39.9), Washington, D.C. (35.3) and Northwest Arkansas (24.7) also had strong showings, as did Raleigh (19.7) and Atlanta (19).

Between the lines: The defense industry's urgent interest in AI is likely driving D.C.'s numbers, says Anil Gupta, a UMD professor who's co-leading the project.

The bottom line: While much of America's AI workforce is concentrated in Silicon Valley, other areas — notably Texas and the Washington, D.C. metro — are emerging as strong second-tier contenders.

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Tesla is cutting 10% of its workforce — and multiple executives are departing — as the company grapples with middling sales, Axios Closer's Nathan Bomey writes.

Why it matters: Tesla remains the world's largest maker of premium EVs, but the company recently reported its lowest quarterly sales since 2022.

Driving the news: CEO Elon Musk told employees in an email that the move stemmed from a need to cut costs and bolster productivity.

• "There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done," Musk said in the email. "This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle."
• Drew Baglino, Tesla's SVP of powertrain and energy engineering, and Rohan Patel, a public policy exec, both said that they're leaving the company as well.

Between the lines: The cuts reflect Tesla's pivot to shoring up profits while it aims for a sales turnaround.

Yes, but: Tesla doesn't have much hope for significant sales growth until it delivers a next-generation vehicle — dubbed the Model 2 — or robotaxis.

• Reuters recently reported that the Model 2 has been canceled, though Musk denied that.

What's next: All eyes are on Tesla's Q1 earnings, due out next Tuesday.

Adobe plans to allow users to bring outside AI models into its professional image and video editing software, Axios AI+'s Ina Fried reports, even as it continues work on its own "commercially safe" models.

Why it matters: The move comes amid a huge debate over the legality and ethics of generative AI among artists and other creators — Adobe's core customers.

Driving the news: Adobe yesterday offered a sneak peek of how third-party models could be incorporated into its Premiere Pro video editing program.

• It plans to support OpenAI's Sora text-to-video engine, as well as models from startups Runway and Pika Labs.

Friction point: Adobe's "commercially safe" promise is a pledge to customers that its AI has been trained using only images the company has rights to, and that Adobe takes on legal liabilities for its users.

• While a few other AI makers offer similar legal indemnifications, most major generative AI tools have cast a wide net for training data, using "publicly available" content that may be under copyright.
• Multiple lawsuits by artists, writers and other creators and publishers have already been brought against major AI firms challenging their use of copyrighted material to train models.

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One of the trendiest sports in Miami is a tennis-like pastime called padel, Axios Miami's Martin Vassolo reports.

The big picture: Padel, a racquet sport with widespread international appeal that's now spreading to America, is "the new golf," according to a former tennis pro-turned-Miami luxury real estate agent.

• The agent, Marko Gojanovic, plays at the members-only Reserve padel club on Watson Island, the Washington Post reports.

How it works: Invented in Mexico in 1969, padel is played with a deflated tennis ball and perforated paddles on a shrunken tennis court enclosed within glass walls.

• It's more physically demanding than pickleball — and unlike pickleball, which can be easily played on re-lined tennis courts, padel courts are more expensive to install.

The intrigue: Miami's celebrity class, from Inter Miami great Lionel Messi to Heat star Jimmy Butler, has helped market the sport — as have luxury residential developers, who are using padel courts to lure buyers.

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