Axios

President Trump declared outer space open for exploration and development in a sudden election night proclamation.

Why it matters: The mostly symbolic edict doubles down on Trump's December 2025 mandate calling for Americans to return to the moon by 2028 and, eventually, land on Mars amid a heated space race with China.

Northwood Space raised $375 million in a Series C funding that valued the Torrance, California-based satellite antenna builder and ground station provider at $2 billion.

Why it matters: Modern and fortified infrastructure on Earth becomes more crucial for commercial, civil and military missions as the number of satellites in orbit swells.

A powerful El Niño could bring major shifts in electricity supply and demand across the U.S. this winter, posing new challenges for utilities.

Why it matters: The U.S. power grid has far more solar, wind and battery storage than during the last major El Niño, and the ongoing event could reveal whether that changing energy mix has made the grid more resilient or left it vulnerable in new ways.

I've spent the past week trying to figure out whether Apple's $2,000 iPhone Duo is the future of smartphones or just an expensive way to do things I could already do on my regular iPhone.

• The answer, unsurprisingly, is a bit of both.

Why it matters: Apple wasn't first to the folding smartphone party. Samsung, Google and others began making them years ago. But Apple's arrival in a category has a way of reinventing it.

We're all AI CEOs now.

Why it matters: AI isn't a choice for us. It's an urgent enabler of revenue, growth, cost and confusion that many aren't remotely ready for.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's reelection carries consequences far beyond Brazil's borders.

Why it matters: Lula faces challenges including strained relations with the U.S. over trade and the Bolsonaro family as he pursues an ambitious climate agenda that includes a commitment to ending Amazon deforestation.

As AI reshapes the workforce, Heartland Summit education leaders said schools need to rethink what they teach and start preparing students for careers earlier.

During a breakout session moderated by Lisa Gevelber, founder of Grow with Google, leaders from Ozarks Tech, WSU Tech and the Bentonville Institute of Technology discussed how schools can keep pace with changing employer needs while preparing students for careers that may look very different in the years ahead.

Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark told leaders at this year's Heartland Summit that the AI boom could bring a major wave of manufacturing and infrastructure investment to the middle of the country.

The challenge: AI may be powered by software, but scaling it requires a massive physical buildout.

Heartland Forward announced at this year's Summit that it is expanding its Center for Investment Readiness (CIR) to the state level for the first time, partnering with Tennessee to help more communities compete for capital and turn local strengths into economic growth.

This year's Heartland Summit centered on economic competitiveness, from attracting investment and preparing workers for an AI-driven economy to strengthening strategic industries, education and health.

• The two-day event is hosted by Heartland Forward, a think-and-do tank focused on accelerating economic growth across the middle of the country.